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Southern Gas Corridor may be expanded

6 May 2019 14:46 (UTC+04:00)
Southern Gas Corridor may be expanded

By Mirsaid Ibrahimzade

The Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) is an important project which brings Azerbaijani gas to the markets in Europe and facilitates energy security of Europe.

EU Ambassador to Azerbaijan Kestutis Jankauskas has told Trend that expansion of SGC with other gas sources is possible if it is necessary.

He said that it can be done by installation of additional pumping stations in case of a bigger demand and wider possibilities for expansion and transportation.

Jankauskas also stressed that additional gas question can arouse potential interest of Turkmenistan.

"Secondly, last year and this year at the ministerial meeting of the SGC Advisory Council there were talks of potential demand and possibilities for expansion, but also about additional sources of the gas," he noted.

Further, Jankauskas pointed out that taking into account the demand and potential expansion, the primarily interested side is Western Balkan Countries and some projects have been developed to that extent, so the SGC is not the end, “it is an enabler and a beginning”.

The Southern Gas Corridor project envisages the creation of a pipeline infrastructure for the transportation of Azerbaijani gas, which is extracted as part of the development of the Shah Deniz Stage 2 field, to Europe via Turkey.

The main components of the project are Shah Deniz Stage 2, expansion of the South Caucasus pipeline Baku-Georgia-border with Turkey, construction of the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) from Turkey’s eastern border to the western border and the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) connecting Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea in southern Italy.

The launching ceremony of the first stage of the Southern Gas Corridor was held in Baku on May 29, 2018, while the opening ceremony of TANAP was held on June 12, 2018, in the Turkish city of Eskisehir.

Supplies of Azerbaijani gas to Europe are expected in early 2020 in the amount of 10 billion cubic meters. In addition, 6 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas will be supplied to the western regions of Turkey. Deliveries to Turkey began in summer 2018.

SGC is one of the most ambitious projects in the world of oil and gas industry, as well as a complex target that involves many different stakeholders, including seven governments and 11 companies.

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Mirsaid Ibrahimzade is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @MirsaidIbrahim1

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