Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr.8
By Maksim Tsurkov - Trend:
Currently, Azerbaijan is the only alternative gas supplier to Europe, Ettore Greco, director of the Institute of International Affairs (Italy) told Trend Apr.8 in Baku.
He said the potential gas supplies to Europe require the presence of the strategic infrastructure, adding that today, only Azerbaijan carries out the real work to create such infrastructure.
The director added that there are certain problems in supplying gas to Europe and other regions.
"It is necessary to construct the Trans-Caspian pipeline in order to ensure gas supply from Turkmenistan," he said. "However, the protracted discussions on the status of the Caspian Sea hinder the implementation of this project. Moreover, Turkmenistan exports the major part of its gas to China."
Furthermore, Greco said that it is too early to talk about the supply of Iranian gas to Europe, since sanctions on this country haven't been lifted yet.
Additionally, Iran can be interested in the growing Asian market as well, according to the expert.
He added that gas supply to Europe from the Eastern Mediterranean (Israel, Cyprus) is also quite problematic primarily due to small gas reserves.
Furthermore, Greco said that the current projects for shale gas production have been frozen in Europe.
Therefore, today, namely Azerbaijan is the only country that can ensure the alternative gas supply to Europe, the expert added.
Edited by SI
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