Azernews.Az

The leaders of European and ex-Soviet nations are due to arrive in Baku for an international energy summit to be held on Friday. Participants at the fourth such event include the presidents of Georgia, Ukraine, Poland, Turkey, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Romania, as well as representatives from the European Union and the United States.
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has already issued a decree on developing a plan of activities regarding his visit to Azerbaijan.
Some analysts say the summit is pivotal for those regional countries that are flush with energy resources. The summit may bring to world attention such issues as creating a trans-Caucasus energy corridor that would exclude Russia, which currently maintains a tight grip on the supplies of gas and oil to energy-thirsty European markets.
Although the European Union is not heavily dependent upon Caspian gas, it is seeking to purchase it to reduce its reliance on Russian supplies. However, gas from Azerbaijan, which comes from the vast Shahdaniz offshore field, will not suffice for the 27-member bloc, therefore, the EU is seeking to cooperate in the energy sector with all Caspian coastal nations.
Azerbaijani economist Kanan Aslanly believes certain decisions are likely to be passed at the Baku summit. "It is time to pass some decisions. This has to do both with transit pipelines and with ironing out the long-standing uncertainty in the positions of the sides involved," he said.
Aslanly said Azerbaijan could supply, at the most, 6-6.5 billion cubic meters out of the total annual demand of 100 billion cubic meters of gas to the EU in the next ten years. Thus, the EU is seeking to work with other gas-rich regional states as well, including Russia. Europe says that supplies from regional states and rival Russia do not `contradict` each other.
EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs told Radio Liberty, several days ago, that the group was upbeat on buying gas directly from Azerbaijan and certain conditions of these supplies had been discussed with the country`s officials. He voiced hope that an intergovernmental agreement regarding the project on building a 3,300km NABUCCO pipeline, which aims to link the Caspian and central Europe, would be signed in early 2009. European officials expect the signing of the agreement on NABUCCO to be followed by the development of the entire southern corridor route.
The EU is seeking cooperation with Azerbaijan not only as a source of hydrocarbons but also as a transit state.
Piebalgs` meetings in Azerbaijan last week came after an earlier discussion with Turkey`s President Abdullah Gul, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Energy Minister Hilmi Guler that likewise stressed the southern gas corridor.
"Both Turkey and the European Union have a lot of interest in promoting this project, which will increase our respective security of supply. I consider the southern gas corridor as the flagship of energy cooperation between Turkey and Europe," Piebalgs said.
However, Turkey and the EU could not resolve their differences concerning the price mechanism of the NABUCCO project.
Turkey wants to become a trade-hub for the pipeline by diverting part of the natural gas for domestic use and selling the rest to Europe. As a result, Turkey has rejected the EU`s offer of receiving only a transit fee.
"It is very clear that Turkey does not want to be just a transit country," said Piebalgs. The commissioner downplayed the problem, saying that "this is not an issue of us against Turkey" and that the two sides can solve the issue together.
Further, Piebalgs is expected to hold talks on transporting gas via the West-backed NABUCCO conduit with officials in Turkmenistan this week.
"I believe there are good chances today to buy gas from Turkmenistan. A proposal on the pipeline project has been made, and the Turkmen leaders are currently considering it," the energy commissioner said, adding that he hoped the Central Asian state`s government would make a positive decision on the matter soon.
The first energy summit of Caspian, Black and Baltic Sea regional states was held in Krakow, Poland in May 2007, while the second one - in Vilnius, Lithuania in October 2007, and the third one met in the Ukrainian capital Kiev this May.