Gazprom

Azerbaijan appears to be standing strong against Gazprom's apparent efforts to undermine the country's burgeoning gas sector. Recent news that Azerbaijan has rejected Gazprom's offer to buy Azerbaijani natural gas follows the country's refusal to buy natural gas from Russia at increased prices. Of course, the larger chessboard here involves possible Trans-Caspian links to augment Azerbaijan's oil and gas supply through the BTC/BTE pipelines, a project which if successful would lessen Russia's monopoly on gas supply to Europe.