Ilham Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan, spoke on Monday at the opening of the Caspian International Oil & Gas Exhibition in Baku.

Aliyev said the country's 2.5 trillion cubic meters of proven natural gas reserves will play an important role in Europe's energy security.

"Azerbaijan used to be known as a country of oil," Aliyev said. "Now we are also known as a natural gas producer."

The largest natural gas field in Azerbaijan is the Shah Deniz field, which holds approximately 1.4 trillion cubic meters of natural gas, which is currently supplied to Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey. New drilling and pipeline projects are expected to help extract additional gas for export to European markets.

Turkey recently raised its shares in the Shah Deniz natural gas field from nine to 19 percent. It also increased its shares in the Trans Anatolia Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP), which is the route by which Shah Deniz gas would be transported to Europe.