In an interview with the Russian radio station Ekho Moskvy, Ilham Aliyev said Azerbaijan "may reshape its energy balance by switching over from fuel oil and gas to fuel oil."
The country's energy minister, Natik Aliyev, said earlier this week Russia's new price for its gas exports to Azerbaijan was unfair.
Most of Russia's post-Soviet neighbors have until now been buying its natural gas at preferential rates, but Russian gas monopoly Gazprom is set to raise the prices to the Western European level as of 2007. The state-controlled company said it will charge Azerbaijan and other former Soviet republics $230 per 1,000 cubic meters, double the current $110.
"Russia has raised gas prices, and we'll see whether we stand to gain from further cooperating with it in the sector," said the minister.
Azerbaijan's domestic gas production, totaling an estimated 4-5 billion cubic meters per year, covers only half of its needs.
