Azernews.Az

The US embassy in Azerbaijan has clarified "inaccurate media accounts" of US Special Envoy for Eurasian Energy Richard Morningstar's statements on the Southern Corridor of pipelines made in Baku.

A press release of the US embassy says that Morningstar, addressing a press conference on Tuesday, underscored US support for the Southern Corridor, which will carry Azerbaijani natural gas to Europe, and consists of "one or more pipeline projects that are commercially viable and strategically significant".

"Nabucco continues to be a highly desirable political and strategic option," Morningstar said at the press conference. "As with any pipeline, it must be commercially viable. There will ultimately be large amounts of gas to ship through Georgia and Turkey to Europe. If a smaller pipeline is chosen to ship the first Shahdaniz gas to Europe, we believe it should provide gas to vulnerable countries in Europe and there should be concrete, written guarantees that the pipeline will be expanded as more gas becomes available. We will support any pipeline in the Southern Corridor that meets these conditions."

Reports have circulated that the US envoy for Eurasian energy said at the press conference that Washington was ready to support any pipeline that would cross the Southern Corridor, but on the condition that this pipeline would be smaller than Nabucco, which seeks to deliver Caspian and Central Asian gas to European markets bypassing Russia.