President Ilham Aliyev hails US support for Azerbaijan's energy projects [UPDATE]

By Ofeliya Afandiyeva

President Ilham Aliyev has hailed Washington’s support for the Southern Gas Corridor and Azerbaijan’s energy projects on the whole.

Aliyev made the remarks while receiving a delegation led by US Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Diplomacy in the Department of State's Bureau of Energy Resources Kurt Donnelly on February 26, as part of the 6th Ministerial Meeting of the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) Advisory Council held in Baku.

“I would like to express my gratitude to the US Government for its constant support for this important project [Southern Gas Corridor]. I know that President Trump is personally involved in this process. His active contacts and participation have greatly helped us deal with certain difficulties we had previously encountered.

“The path ahead of us is very clear. I am sure that our fruitful cooperation will be continued in the future because the US government has always provided great support for our projects related both to the development of our oil and gas pipelines and the overall energy potential,” Aliyev said.

Speaking about the Southern Gas Corridor project, the president said that is already nearing its final stage. He reminded that Baku hosted an official ceremony to announce the commissioning of the project in 2018.

Aliyev said that TANAP project, which is an important component of the Southern Gas Corridor reached the European border in November, 2019.

“This will allow us the opportunity to export more natural gas from Shah Deniz and other gas fields because we plan to expand our activities and increase the level of production from other fields that are still at the exploration stage or the final stage of development,” the president said.

In his turn, US Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Diplomacy in the Department of State's Bureau of Energy Resources Kurt Donnelly spoke about the significance of the Southern Gas Corridor and congratulated the president with this project entering the final stage.

He lauded the importance of the upcoming sixth Ministerial Meeting of the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council and noted the importance of discussions in this format.

The sides also exchanged views on the development of alternative energy resources in Azerbaijan in recent years.

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