Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 20
By Seymur Aliyev - Trend:
Around $45 billion will be invested in the implementation of the projects as part of Azerbaijani gas supplies to Europe, the president of SOCAR (State Oil Company of Azerbaijan) Rovnag Abdullayev said at the 20th anniversary of the Contract of the Century and the Southern Gas Corridor groundbreaking ceremony in Baku on Sept. 20.
"We are successfully developing one of the largest and most complex gas-condensate fields in the world," he said. "Together with our partners we will expand the South Caucasus gas pipeline and create the Trans-Anatolian (TANAP) and the Trans-Adriatic (TAP) gas pipelines as part of the second stage of the Shah Deniz field development. Around $ 45 billion will be invested in the implementation of these projects."
"Azerbaijani gas will be supplied to Turkey as part of the Shah Deniz-2 project in 2018, but to Europe in 2019," Rovnag Abdullayev said.
"The foundation of the Southern Gas Corridor project is being laid today," he said. "It is aimed at ensuring energy security of Europe."
The Southern Gas Corridor will allow Europe to diversify its hydrocarbon supply sources and strengthen energy security and also will allow Azerbaijan to obtain a new market in Europe.
On December 17, 2013, a final investment decision was made on the Stage Two of the Shah Deniz offshore gas and condensate field's development. The gas produced at this field will first go to the European market (10 billion cubic meters).
The gas to be produced as part of the Stage Two of the field's development will be exported to Turkey and to the European markets by means of expanding the South Caucasus Pipeline and construction of the Trans-Anatolian Gas Pipeline (TANAP) and the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP).
Azerbaijan with total gas reserves in the volume of about three trillion cubic meters will be able to begin supplying fuel to Europe via the planned Trans-Adriatic Pipeline. TAP's initial capacity will be 10 billion cubic meters of gas per year with possible expansion up to 20 billion.
Azerbaijani gas will be delivered throughout Turkey via the Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline up to TAP, which would start on the Turkish-Greek border. Prior to TANAP, the gas will be delivered via the current 700-kilometer South Caucasus gas pipeline. Its capacity will be expanded.