Southern Gas Corridor to attract $2 billion
By Fatma Babayeva
Shareholders of the Southern Gas Corridor project plan to attract $ 2 billion from international financial institutions by late 2016, Rovnag Abdullayev, President of Azerbaijan's state oil company SOCAR, told reporters on April 2.
Negotiations with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and other financial institutions continue in this direction.
The loans will have low interest rates with 20 years payback period, empathized Abdullayev.
The Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) is a planned infrastructure projects aimed at improving the security and diversity of the EU’s energy supply by bringing natural gas from the Caspian region to Europe.
The project envisages the transportation of gas extracted at the giant Shah Deniz 2 field in the Azerbaijani section of the Caspian Sea. The SGC will stretch across 3,500 kilometer area from the Caspian Sea into the Europe. However, there is a need to upgrade existing infrastructure and develop a chain of new pipelines.
Existing South Caucasus pipeline will be expanded with a new parallel pipeline through Azerbaijan and Georgia. Construction of Trans-Anatolian (TANAP) and Trans-Adriatic pipelines are main elements of this project.
TANAP will pass through Turkey and join to TAP pipeline in the Greece border. TAP goes through Greece, Albania and southern part of Italy.
First gas delivery to Georgia and Turkey is targeted for late 2018. Gas deliveries to the Europe are expected a year after first gas is produced offshore Azerbaijan.
The SGC is one of the biggest construction projects of our times with a value of $45 billion.
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Fatma Babayeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Fatma_Babayeva
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