Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan.14
By Emil Ismayilov - Trend:
Turkmenistan, which has rich reserves of natural gas, has a sufficiently diversified system of gas export routes, a senior representative of SOCAR (State Oil Company of Azerbaijan) told Trend, responding to a question about the possibilities of Turkmen gas export within the Southern Gas Corridor.
"One cannot say that Turkmenistan has gas, but it is not able to deliver it anywhere," said the representative of the State Oil Company. "They (the Turkmen) sell gas to the north, the south - to Iran, the east - to China."
He said that the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project can be considered the fourth export destination, which is under development. "But I cannot say how it can be practically implemented and at what stage it is, of course," he said.
Returning to the question of possibilities of Turkmen gas supplies to Europe, the representative of SOCAR said he has no information regarding the plans of Turkmenistan, but stressed that the Azerbaijani side has repeatedly expressed its position on this issue.
The Trans-Caspian pipeline project envisages the laying of around 300 kilometers long gas pipeline under the Caspian to the shores of Azerbaijan. Further fuel can be transported to Turkey, which has mutual borders with European countries.
The project is regarded as the optimal option for delivering Turkmen resources to European markets. The negotiations between the EU, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan on the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline began in September 2011. Azerbaijan has repeatedly expressed readiness to provide its territory, transit facilities and infrastructure for realizing the project.
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. A final investment decision was made on December 17, 2013 on the Stage 2 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). Around six billion cubic meters will be annually supplied to Turkey.
As part of the second stage of the field's development, gas will be exported to Turkey and European markets by expanding the South Caucasus gas pipeline and the construction of Trans-Anatolian (TANAP) and Trans-Adriatic (TAP) gas pipelines.
The contract for development of the Shah Deniz offshore field, which has proven reserve of 1.2 trillion cubic meters of gas and 240 million metric tons of gas condensate, was signed on June 4, 1996.
Edited by CN
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