Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 5
By Anahanum Khidayatova - Trend:
The consortium for the development of Azerbaijani gas condensate field Shah Deniz chose TAP gas pipeline to deliver gas to Europe, the press service of the EU told Trend March 5, commenting on media reports regarding Azerbaijan and Bulgaria's decision to return to the Nabucco project.
The choice was made as a counter to the proposal of the Nabucco consortium the press service said.
"For the European Commission, it is important to build the necessary infrastructure in order to better connect South-East Europe with the EU internal energy market, so that the member countries can benefit from the gas from the Caspian region," the EU said. "The strategic goal of the Southern Gas Corridor is the delivery of gas from Azerbaijan to South-Eastern Europe. The project will contribute to the diversification of gas supplies."
The EU said that the European Commission has taken the initiative to support the project by creating a high-level group on the gas network of Central and South-Eastern Europe.
"The first meeting of this group took place on Feb. 9," the press service of the EU said. "The action plan on the infrastructure will be developed in summer."
The Southern Gas Corridor will allow Europe to diversify its hydrocarbon supply sources and strengthen energy security and also will allow Azerbaijan to obtain a new market in Europe.
On December 17, 2013, a final investment decision was made on the Stage 2 of the Shah Deniz offshore gas and condensate field's development. The gas produced at this field will first go to the European market (10 billion cubic meters). Around six billion cubic meters will be annually supplied to Turkey.
The contract for development of the Shah Deniz offshore field was signed on June 4, 1996. The field's reserve is estimated at 1.2 trillion cubic meters of gas and 240 million metric tons of condensate.
As part of the second stage of the field development, gas will be exported to Turkey and European markets by expanding the South Caucasus gas pipeline and the construction of Trans-Anatolian (TANAP) and Trans-Adriatic (TAP) gas pipelines.
The Nabucco West project was a rival for Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) project in the fight for the transportation of Azerbaijani gas to European markets.
Despite the fact that the decision of the consortium for the development of Shah Deniz was not in favor of this project, its intended route still has not lost its relevance.
The European Union is still interested in the pipeline project to Central and Eastern Europe.
The supply route to the countries of South-Eastern Europe and Austria is included in the list of "projects of common interest" (PCI) of the European Commission.
Nabucco West was the second pipeline that competed for the transportation of Azerbaijani gas to Europe. It was proposed to transport gas from the Turkish-Bulgarian border, transiting Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania to the Central European Gas Hub at Baumgarten, Austria.
Edited by CN
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