Romania interested in Shah Deniz 2 gas supplies to Europe - envoy
By Aynur Jafarova
Romania is interested in supplying gas from the second stage of development of Azerbaijan's offshore Shah Deniz gas condensate field to Europe, Romanian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Daniel Cristian Ciobanu has said, Trend news agency reported.
The second stage is expected to begin from 2018.
"Currently, Azerbaijan, Romania and Georgia are cooperating within the framework of the Azerbaijan-Georgia-Romania Interconnector (AGRI) project, which includes ensuring the supply of Azerbaijani liquefied gas through the Black Sea coast of Georgia," the ambassador said. He was speaking at a session of the Caspian-European Integration Business Club (CEIBC) with ambassadors of European Union countries and the Caspian and Black Sea regions.
AGRI project envisages transportation of Azerbaijani gas via pipelines to the Black Sea coast of Georgia, where the gas will be liquefied at a special terminal. Then the gas will be delivered to a terminal at the Romanian port of Constanta via tankers. Later the liquefied gas will be brought into the state of natural gas and used to meet the needs of Romania and other European countries.
The shareholders of AGRI are Azerbaijani state energy company SOCAR, Georgian Oil and Gas Corporation, Hungary's MVM and Romanian Romgaz.
In April 2010, Azerbaijan, Romania and Georgia signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in liquefied gas transportation in Bucharest. According to the memorandum, the parties expressed their intention regarding the development of an energy transit corridor connecting the Caspian region and Europe within the Southern Corridor, which is designed to transport gas from the resource-rich Caspian region and Middle East to European countries. The signatories also made a decision on gas trade and use of underground storages of Romania, as well as on analysis of opportunities to expand cooperation between relevant agencies operating in the energy sector. Also, the purpose of Romania is to create a company in Bucharest for studying economic feasibility and determining the technical, technological, financial and legal aspects of the AGRI project.
This will be the first project which envisages transporting liquefied natural gas in the Black Sea region. The project will be important for south-eastern Europe and contribute to the diversification of energy sources and routes of all the three participating countries.
Azerbaijan's proven gas reserves exceed 2 trillion cubic meters and if the current level of gas production is taken as a basis, these stocks will be enough to meet the needs of the country for 100 years.
Azerbaijan and Romania are also considering the possibility of further cooperation in the field of oil transportation and cooperation within the Pan-European project.