Azernews.Az

Azerbaijan supports the strategy on the Southern Energy Corridor that envisions creating a route for the exports of Caspian gas to European markets, says the president of the Azerbaijani state energy firm SOCAR Rovnag Abdullayev.
Abdullayev told an international oil and gas conference in Baku on Wednesday that Baku has been working hard for several years to implement a number of projects aiming to advance this strategy. These projects, he said, include the Nabucco pipeline project seeking to export Caspian and Central Asian gas, which is pivotal for European energy security.
Azerbaijan has managed to secure proper legal framework for transporting gas to Greece and Italy. The country is also considering a project that will take its liquefied gas to Bulgaria and Romania through neighboring Georgia, according to Abdullayev.
He pointed out that Azerbaijan’s gas transportation policy is quite transparent. This policy envisions diversifying gas exports to the greatest extent. Furthermore, Azerbaijan aims to create direct links between energy producers and consumers.
Abdullayev said, further, that the resource-rich South Caucasus republic’s government has so far placed a particular emphasis on US and European companies in tapping oil and gas fields in its sector of the Caspian Sea, and this policy is still being pursued. Thus, SOCAR intends to tackle the development of new deposits in cooperation with German RWE and French giants Total and Gaz de France.
US Special Envoy for Eurasian Energy, Richard Morningstar, said at the conference that the U.S. strongly supports opening the Southern Corridor. This corridor is commercially lucrative for the Caucasus and Central Asian states and will allow them to forge long-term partnership with Europe based on mutual interests. Morningstar said Washington is seeking the implementation of the Nabucco, Turkey-Greece-Italy (TGI) projects and, possibly, the trans-Adriatic pipeline project, as part of this corridor.
"The U.S. backs the efforts of producers in the Caucasus and Central Asia to diversify exports of their energy resources. We are ready to assist these countries in finding new markets."
Morningstar also said the U.S. would welcome Turkmenistan’s joining the Southern Corridor.
"Iraq has also stated its plans to export gas through the Southern Corridor, but we believe that this process should be part of this country’s comprehensive energy strategy and is to be supported by its central government.
"Our position on Iran remains unchanged. Given the Iranian leaders’ current approach, against the backdrop of the ongoing international efforts in light of the country’s nuclear program, we do not see this country as part of the Southern Corridor."*