Azernews.Az

The conclusion of commercial agreements with the consortium of Azerbaijani Shah Deniz gas condensate field development will open multiple sources of gas for the Southern Corridor, the joint statement on the U.S. - EU Energy Council Ministerial says, U.S. State Department reported.

This week the U.S.-EU Energy Council met in Washington DC to review progress achieved on strategic energy issues, cooperation on energy policies, and research collaboration on sustainable and clean energy technologies as mandated by the Energy Council in 2009.

"The Energy Council looks forward to the conclusion of commercial agreements with the Shah Deniz II consortium, which could ultimately open multiple sources of gas for the Southern Corridor," the statement reads.

According to the statement, the U.S. and EU acknowledged the significant signing on October 25 of a gas transit agreement between Turkey and Azerbaijan, bringing the Southern Corridor one step closer to being launched.

In a statement the Energy Council reiterated its support for the creation of sufficient dedicated infrastructure which will provide substantial volumes of gas.

The Southern Gas Corridor is a priority EU energy project diversifying energy supply routes and sources and increasing security. It includes the Nabucco gas pipeline, TAP and ITGI (Turkey-Greece-Italy pipeline).

All three projects within the Southern gas corridor have submitted final proposals to Azerbaijan, which will make its decision on preferable transportation route by the end of 2011. Gas, which will be produced within the second phase of Azerbaijani Shah-Deniz gas field development is regarded as the main source for all projects.

Azerbaijan is going to deliver 10 billion cubic meters of gas per year to Europe under the Shah Deniz-2 project through the chosen pipeline.