Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov. 21 /Trend A.Badalova/
Turkey is still offering support to all three pipelines within the Southern gas corridor, which is designed to transport Azerbaijani gas to Europe, Platts reported referring to a spokesman for the energy ministry of Turkey.
"Turkey still supported all three projects," he said.
The Southern Gas Corridor is a priority EU energy project diversifying energy supply routes and sources and increasing security. It includes the Nabucco gas pipeline, TAP and ITGI (Turkey-Greece-Italy pipeline).
All three projects within the Southern gas corridor have submitted final proposals to Azerbaijan, which will make its decision on preferable transportation route by the end of 2011. Gas, which will be produced within the second phase of Azerbaijani Shah-Deniz gas field development is regarded as the main source for all projects.
Azerbaijan is going to deliver 10 billion cubic meters of gas per year to Europe under the Shah Deniz-2 project through the chosen pipeline.
The spokesman said Turkey would also support the Trans Anatolian gas pipeline which will be built on the Turkish territory.
According to the spokesperson, Turkey and Azerbaijan were working together to develop the proposed pipeline, but no definite decisions were taken on where the line will start and end or on what the capacity will be.
The new pipeline could utilize existing sections of Turkey's main east-west transit line in addition to the newly constructed line, he said.
The spokesman said the new pipeline could carry gas from Baku to eastern Turkey using the existing 20 Bcm/year South Caucasus Gas Pipeline but added that no definite decision had yet been taken and it is unclear whether such a move would require a new agreement with Georgia.
Earlier the president of SOCAR Rovnag Abdullaev stated that Azerbaijan and Turkey have begun working to examine the possibility of building a new gas pipeline, which will stretch from the eastern border of Turkey to the western border of the country. Baku and Ankara intend to build a new gas pipeline to Turkey to export most part of 50 billion cubic meters of gas that Azerbaijan intends to produce in 2025.
According to the Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz, the new Azerbaijani-Turkish gas pipeline can be connected to the Nabucco gas pipeline, which is designed to transport gas from the Caspian region and Middle East to the European countries. Nabucco project is planned to start construction in 2013 and the first supplies will be commissioned in 2017. The total length of the pipeline is 3900 kilometres with a maximum capacity of 31 billion cubic metres per year.