Azernews.Az

By Kamila Aliyeva

Bringing of the Caspian gas to the European market is becoming a reality, as confirmed by the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) Advisory Council Third Ministerial Meeting held in Baku this February, said Maros Sefcovic, the Vice President of the European Commission.

Sefcovic announced about this while addressing the Energy Charter Forum that opened in Ashgabat on May 30, Turkmen Dovlet Habarlary news agency reported.

He expressed firm confidence that shortly the Caspian and Central Asian Region and the European Union would develop beneficial cooperation in different spheres, including energy.

He highlighted that the negotiations and continuous efforts to ensure Turkmen gas supplies to European markets indicates strong partnership and cooperation.

Natural gas plays considerable role in long-term transit to low-carbon economy, according to Sefcovic.

The tendencies at international gas markets and in transport infrastructure, as well as trans-boundary trade of electrical energy and establishment of regional markets of electrical energy remain topical for the development of energy systems, he said.

The EC Vise-President further congratulated Turkmenistan on the completion of construction of the East–West pipeline and the works on TAPI project..

The experience, gained by the sides in similar large projects, can be used in diversification of supplies and routes to the European Union, in particular to the South Gas Corridor and its possible expansion to the Central Asia via Trans Caspian pipeline, he said.

Sefcovic stressed that Ashgabat Declaration on Cooperation in Energy, signed between the EU, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Turkmenistan, was the base for establishment of working group and this successful cooperation will continue.

The document reads that the sides support the creation of favorable conditions necessary for ensuring reliable, stable and long-term international energy cooperation taking into account the interests of producers, transit countries and consumers of energy resources.

The sides also recognized the importance of the equal and mutually beneficial cooperation in ensuring the supply of natural gas from Turkmenistan to Europe.

The ambitious SGC project, one of the European Union's priority energy projects, is assessed as a strategically important initiative that will allow Europe to secure its energy security. The project which is set to change the energy map of an entire region will bring Caspian gas to the European markets.

--

Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz