Azerbaijan, alternative source of gas for Europe
The alternative sources of gas for Europe, first and foremost, are coming from the Caspian, that is Azerbaijan with a shot at the knees development, said Ariel Cohen, Nonresident Senior Fellow, Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center & Global Energy Center, Atlantic Council.
Cohen made this statement at the Atlantic Council.
Cohen said that this is a pipeline called TANAP, Trans-Anatolian pipeline, starting from the Georgian border into Turkey, and then its extension into Albania – or, Greece, Albania and Italy, called TAP, Trans-Adriatic Pipeline.
“The overall capacity at the initial stage is only 16 billion cubic meters per year,” he said. “Comparing with the Russian overall exports of 160, it's only 10 percent.”
Cohen said that Russia is taking measures to stop TANAP, adding that its construction is planned to be completed by late 2018.
He said that they're not saying they're trying to stop TANAP, but the initial South Stream project was aimed at providing a massive amount of gas, 63 billion cubic meters, initially from Russia along the Black Sea, making landfall in Bulgaria, and then taking it to Romania and into Europe.
Cohen said that at this point, the only pipeline project that is actually being built – bricks, mortars, pipes, whatever – is TAP-TANAP.
“This corridor has a capacity to be expanded up to 30, 30-plus bcm, if you put additional compressor stations there,” he said.
The Southern Gas Corridor is one of the priority energy projects for the EU. At the initial stage, the gas to be produced as part of the Stage 2 of development of Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz field is considered as the main source for the Southern Gas Corridor projects. Other sources can also connect to this project at a later stage.
As part of the Stage 2 of the Shah Deniz development, the gas will be exported to Turkey and European markets by expanding the South Caucasus Pipeline and the construction of Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline and Trans-Adriatic Pipeline.
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