Connection between Caspian region and EU necessary: SOCAR
By Aynur Jafarova
The big gap in price and supply security between the European average and countries in the periphery of Europe necessitates the construction of something to connect the Caspian region to the European Union (EU).
The remarks were made by Vice-President of Azerbaijan's state energy company SOCAR on Investments and Marketing Elshad Nasirov at the Monthly Members' Luncheon hosted by American Chamber of Commerce in Azerbaijan (AmCham) on April 4.
"This is a challenging, if not the most challenging, energy project in the world," Nasirov said.
The SOCAR official believes that many things can be said about the Southern Gas Corridor.
"Of course, we have to think what this gas corridor is providing to the European and world markets. The EU needs more security, and energy security definitely cannot be separated from national security. It's becoming more and more obvious that energy is equal to the national security of any country," he noted.
Nasirov also briefed the members about the latest achievements on the Southern Gas Corridor.
The gas which will be produced at the second stage of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field development will be the main source of the Southern Gas Corridor, which envisages the transportation of the Caspian gas to the European markets.
The Shah Deniz consortium announced the selection of TAP as the main route for transporting its gas to Europe in late June. Another pipeline which was vying for Azerbaijan's gas transportation to Europe was Nabucco West.
The selection of TAP marked the start of implementing the Southern Gas Corridor project that will allow Europe to diversify its supply sources and increase energy security, and enable Azerbaijan to acquire a new market -Europe.