Azerbaijan intends to use the gas transportation potential of Turkish Stream extension on Europe's territory for supplying additional volumes of gas from its fields in the future, Elshad Nasirov, vice president of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) on investments and marketing told reporters.
"The Turkish Stream is not a rival to the Southern Gas Corridor project, since our gas volumes have been sold for a period of 25 years and the buyers are obliged to receive it," said Nasirov, adding that this is while the next generations of fields in Azerbaijan need new pipelines, RIA Novosti reported.
SOCAR vice president added that the construction of the Turkish Stream earlier than the Southern Gas Corridor won't cause a problem.
"Our consumers are obliged to receive our gas by the time of construction of TAP," he said.
The Southern Gas Corridor project envisages the construction of TANAP-TAP gas pipelines' system from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field to Italy's south through Georgia, Turkey, Greece and Albania.
It is planned to supply 6 billion cubic meters of gas to Turkey and 10 billion cubic meters to Europe through these pipelines.
Nasirov added that such fields as Absheron, Umid and Babek will allow to increase the gas production in Azerbaijan in the future.
"We hope that if the Turkish Stream is constructed, naturally, we will be able to use its extension," he said.
Turkish Stream envisages transportation of gas from Russia to Turkey through the Black Sea. Russia's Gazprom company and Turkish BOTAS signed a memorandum of understanding on construction of the pipeline on December 1, 2014.
The pipeline's pumping capacity will be 63 billion cubic meters. The 1,100 kilometer-gas pipeline will consist of four branches and supply 47 billion cubic meters of gas to the Turkish-Greek border. A gas hub is expected to be created on the border between Turkey and Greece. The EU countries must independently create their own gas transportation facilities to receive this gas in their territories.
Edited by SI