Azerbaijan, Baku, March. 3 / Trend A.Badalova /
Azerbaijani-Turkish Trans-Anatolian (TANAP) and Trans-Caspian pipelines in combination can turn Azerbaijan into a key provider of energy security to Europe, Senior Fellow of Jamestown Foundation (Washington), Trend Expert Council Vladimir Socor believes.
"The trans-Anatolian and trans-Caspian pipelines are projects in synergy," Socor, said in his publication, published on Jamestown Foundation's official website.
He stressed that from Ashgabat's perspective, TANAP becomes the post-Nabucco outlet for Turkmen gas to European countries.
"Ashgabat shares Baku's view that this bilateral project can be legally implemented, without necessitating other Caspian countries' consent," Socor said.
He believes that though formally, TANAP is not a component of the Southern Corridor, in practical terms it has become de facto a segment of the Southern Corridor to Europe. It is, moreover, the Corridor's most viable segment, on four counts: self-financed, guaranteed with first-stage gas supplies, and scalable up to 30 billion cubic meters per year, accommodating Turkmen gas volumes as these become available, Socor stressed.
TANAP envisages a construction of a pipeline with the initial capacity at 16 billion cubic metres per year from the eastern border of Turkey to the country's western border.
Socor believes that with TANAP as a prospective outlet, Turkmenistan can advance the construction of its East-West pipeline (with annual capacity of 30 bcm) overland, from the gas fields in Turkmenistan's east to the Caspian shore. The overland pipeline is planned to link up with the proposed 300 kilometer pipeline on the Caspian seabed.
Trans-Caspian gas pipeline running to around 300 kilometres will be laid from the Turkmen coast of the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijani, where it will be linked to the Southern Gas Corridor.
In September, 2011 the EU Council gave a mandate for negotiations between the EU, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan to build the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline.
Currently Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and the EU are preparing a political document to support the Southern Gas Corridor, as well as an inter-governmental agreement on Trans-Caspian gas pipeline. This should take place before the end of the year.