Azerbaijan, Baku, June 6 / Trend A.Badalova /
Azerbaijan has a great potential to become the leading supplier of gas to Europe, senior analyst on Caspian upstream research for the Wood Mackenzie Company, Matthew Shaw said at the Caspian Oil and Gas 2013 conference.
According to him, Europe needs to diversify sources of supply and Azerbaijan has enough resources.
However as Shaw noted, Azerbaijan needs to take into account the issue of price competitiveness and transport tariffs. According to him, there is a competition from Russia, North Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean region.
He also said that Iraq can become a new supplier of energy to Europe. However, Shaw thinks that supplies from this country at the moment involve a high degree of risk.
The supply of liquefied natural gas in the medium term can also create serious competition, Shaw said.
However Shaw noted that the strong political will to implement the Southern Gas Corridor and Azerbaijan's high reputation as a reliable partner in contracts, gives the country an advantage in the issue of gas supplies to the European market.