Baku, Azerbaijan, March 11
By Elchin Mehdiyev, Maksim Tsurkov - Trend:
The Southern Gas Corridor project will become a new energy source for Europe, Azerbaijan's Energy Minister Natig Aliyev said March 11.
He made the remarks during the discussion 'The future of energy, the future of global governance' held as part of the 4th Global Baku Forum.
Europe considers the Caspian Sea region as a new source for delivering energy resources to its market, according to Aliyev.
"Azerbaijan's gas reserve is 2.5 trillion cubic meters," said the minister. "The Southern Gas Corridor, authored by Azerbaijan, is a very large project."
Technologies that were not used in the Caspian Sea region before, will be involved in the implementation of this project, according to Natig Aliyev.
The Southern Gas Corridor can also transport gas from Turkmenistan, Iran and Iraq to Europe in the future, therefore, this project is of great importance, he added.
The Southern Gas Corridor is one of the priority energy projects for EU. It envisages the transportation of gas from the Caspian Sea region to the European countries through Georgia and Turkey.
At the initial stage, the gas to be produced as part of the Stage 2 of development of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field is considered as the main source for the Southern Gas Corridor projects. Other sources can also connect to this project at a later stage.
As part of the Stage 2 of the Shah Deniz development, the gas will be exported to Turkey and European markets by expanding the South Caucasus Pipeline and the construction of Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline and Trans-Adriatic Pipeline.