Azerbaijan become regional and global energy player: European Commission
By Fatma Babayeva
Azerbaijan, an initiator of the giant Southern Gas Corridor project, has become very important energy player at the regional and global level.
The statement was made by Maros Sefcovic, Vice-president of the European Commission for Energy Union during the Greek Energy Forum held in Thessaloniki, Greece on May 17.
Europe is the largest importer of the energy resources in the world, emphasized Sefcovic.
Sefcovic called the Southern Gas Corridor the true diversification project, as it will provide the European countries with a new source of gas supply (the Caspian region) and a new supply route (the Trans Adriatic Pipeline – TAP).
At the initial stage, the gas to be produced at Shah Deniz 2 field of Azerbaijan will be the main source for the Southern Gas Corridor pipeline network.
Sefcovic further added that in future, Turkmenistan, Iraq and the Mediterranean region can also become the potential sources of gas supplies for the Southern Gas Corridor.
The European Commission expects the first gas to be supplied to Turkey in 2019 as part of the Southern Gas Corridor, and reach Europe in 2020, said the vice-president.
He also stressed the significance of the TAP groundbreaking ceremony planned to be held in Thessaloniki on May 17.
Sefcovic highlighted that this important event will go down in history.
The Southern Gas Corridor is one of the priority energy projects for the EU. It envisages the transportation of 10 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas from the Caspian Sea region to the European countries through Georgia and Turkey.
The 870-kilometer pipeline will be connected to the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) on the Turkish-Greek border and run through Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea, before coming ashore in Italy's south.
TAP shareholders are BP (20 percent), SOCAR (20 percent), Snam S.p.A (20 percent), Fluxys (19 percent), Enagas (16 percent) and Axpo (5 percent).
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, European Investment Bank, as well as, credit agencies of the OECD countries are expected to finance the TAP project.
The SGC is one of the biggest construction projects of our times with a value of $45 billion which aims to improve the energy security of the EU and diversity its energy supply routes.
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Fatma Babayeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Fatma_Babayeva
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