Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 14
By Orkhan Quluzade – Trend:
Turkey wants to connect Israeli gas supplies to the Southern Gas Corridor project, said Cemil Ertem, advisor to the Turkish president, in his interview with the TRT Haber news channel Oct. 14.
Ertem noted that Turkey’s Energy and Natural Resources Minister Berat Albayrak discussed this issue during the meeting with his Israeli counterpart on Oct. 13.
He added also that energy agreements between the two countries can be a catalyst for solving problems in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East regions.
On the sidelines of the 23rd World Energy Congress in Istanbul, Turkey’s Energy and Natural Resources Minister Berat Albayrak and his Israeli counterpart Yuval Steinitz discussed the possibility of a gas pipeline’s construction between the two countries.
Currently, Israel’s proven gas reserves are estimated at 900 billion cubic meters. The country’s promising gas reserves are 2.2 trillion cubic meters, according to Steinitz. Meanwhile, total volume of Israel’s natural gas reserves is about three trillion cubic meters.
The Southern Gas Corridor is one of the priority energy projects for the EU. It envisages the transportation of 10 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas from the Caspian 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 project. Other sources can also join 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 TANAP and TAP.
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