Azernews.Az

BRUSSELS – Nabucco and ITGI are priority projects for the European Union for diversifying the EU's gas supply sources and routes, head of the EU delegation to Azerbaijan Roland Kobia said Thursday.

The two projects, as well as the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) and White Stream, are part of the Southern Energy Corridor, which seeks to meet Europe’s gas needs.

Kobia said more EU countries will be provided with gas after the Nabucco and ITGI projects are implemented, and Azerbaijan will be able to sell gas in large volumes.

Azerbaijan is considered the main supplier of gas under the Southern Energy Corridor projects. The country will act not only as an exporter, but also as a transit state for gas from Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, Kobia said.

According to him, Azerbaijan, just like Europe, is interested in diversifying gas supply routes. This will allow the country to sell gas at higher prices, as Russia does now.

The EU official said the infrastructure for transporting gas to Europe under the second stage of developing Azerbaijan’s biggest gas field Shahdaniz must be ready by 2016-2017.

Kobia said Russia is a strategic partner of Europe, noting that the EU is a major buyer of Russian gas. However, the EU and other suppliers have the right to hold talks to undertake new projects, he said.

Kobia said the EU opposes a monopoly in any field, particularly the energy sector. There is competition even among projects in the Southern Energy Corridor, as each participating company can independently negotiate and implement projects, he added.