MOSCOW, June 2 (RIA Novosti) - Gazprom has proposed buying Azerbaijani natural gas at market prices under a long-term contract, the Russian energy giant said in a statement on Monday.

A Gazprom delegation visited Azerbaijan on Monday and the company's CEO, Alexei Miller, met with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.

"During the talks, Alexei Miller made a proposal to buy Azerbaijani gas at market prices on the basis of a long-term contract," the statement said.

"We are interested in developing mutually beneficial relations between Gazprom and Azerbaijan in the energy sector," Miller said.

Azerbaijan is developing its giant Shah Deniz field, with gas reserves of over 1 trillion cubic meters, under a production-sharing agreement signed in 1996. Seven companies, including BP, Norway's Statoil, France's Total and the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan are involved in the project.

In mid-March, delegates from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan told Miller during a meeting in Moscow that they would begin to sell gas to Russia at European prices from 2009.

Gazprom plans to introduce market gas prices for Russian industrial consumers in 2011.