The Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) project will enhance Azerbaijan’s role in forming eastern and western energy corridors, said the country’s Deputy Energy Minister Natig Abbasov.
Despite the decline in oil prices, Azerbaijan continues to implement large transnational projects, said the deputy minister.
As a country located at the intersection of Europe and Asia, Azerbaijan has exceptional opportunities for transportation of energy resources, he noted adding that the SGC was one of the biggest infrastructure and energy projects of Europe.
“As an energy security project, the SGC will bring benefit to all of us – producers, transit countries and consumers – for years to come”, added Abbasov.
He also noted that Azerbaijan made a new contribution to Europe’s energy security with the SGC project.
“TANAP (Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline), which will be laid from the Georgian-Turkish border to the Turkish-Greek border, is a very important project in the context of ensuring the regional, particularly European security”, said the deputy minister. “The creation of the energy corridor will be completed by laying the TAP (Trans Adriatic Pipeline) from the Turkish-Greek border to Italy’s south”.
TAP has enough capacity to transport Azerbaijani gas to Europe and will allow creating a complex network of gas pipelines in Europe, said Abbasov.
“Moreover, the construction of the planned Ionian Adriatic Pipeline (IAP) will allow delivering Azerbaijani gas to Bulgaria, Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina”, he added.
Currently, Azerbaijan produces 82-88 million cubic meters of gas and 115,000-120,000 tons of oil per day, noted the deputy minister, adding that proved gas reserves of the country amounted to 2.6 trillion cubic meters, oil reserves – 2 billion tons.
TANAP project envisages transportation of gas from Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz field to the western borders of Turkey. The gas will be delivered to Turkey in 2018, and after completion of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline’s construction, the gas will be delivered to Europe in early 2020.
The IAP pipeline is planned to be connected to the TAP pipeline in the Albanian city of Fier.
Azerbaijani gas will be delivered to a number of countries of the southeastern Europe via the IAP pipeline. The pipeline’s capacity will be 5 billion cubic meters per year.
Organizers of the TAP pipeline have already signed a corresponding memorandum with builders of the IAP, in particular, with Plinacto Ltd. (Croatia), BH-Gas (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Geoplin plinovodi (Slovenia), as well as with governments of Montenegro and Albania. (Trend/Business World Magazine)
