Azerbaijan can meet its target of doubling natural gas exports to Europe, President Ilham Aliyev said, even as his country has yet to secure the long-term sales deals it needs to invest billions to boost production.

The Caspian Sea nation’s gas exports to Europe will rise to 12 billion cubic meters (bcm) this year from 8 bcm in 2021, showing Azerbaijan is “confidently moving toward the goal” of doubling supplies by 2027, Aliyev said at the opening of a 170 kilometer (106-mile) pipeline connecting the Serbian city of Nis to the outskirts of Sofia, Bulgaria’s capital.