Riga, Latvia, Feb.13
By Elena Kosolapova - Trend:
The European Commission welcomes Azerbaijan's increasing role in ensuring the energy security of Europe, Mathieu Bousquet, Acting Head of the Regional Unit of the European Commission said speaking to journalists in the lobby at the EU Eastern Partnership Youth Forum in Riga.
He recalled that in October 2014, Brussels hosted a meeting of the Eastern partnership platform on energy security where the representatives of Azerbaijan said that their country has a role to play for the region in terms energy security and security of supply.
"And this was also done at the informal energy ministers' meeting of the Eastern Partnership member countries which took place in Baku in September last year," he said.
"I am really supportive of that," Bousquet said. "Azerbaijan wants to play a bigger role in terms of helping its neighbors and also Europe in terms of providing energy sources. This is very positive."
The Southern Gas Corridor project envisages the transportation of gas from the Caspian region through Georgia and Turkey to Europe. This large project aims at diversifying the routes and sources of energy supply that will enhance energy security of Europe.
At the initial stage, the gas to be produced as part of the second phase of development of Azerbaijani gas condensate Shah Deniz field is considered as the main source for the Southern Gas Corridor projects. At a later stage, other sources may join the project.
The gas to be produced as part of the Stage 2 of the field's development will be exported to Turkey and to the European markets by means of expanding the South Caucasus Pipeline and construction of the Trans-Anatolian Gas Pipeline (TANAP) and the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP).
On February 12, Baku hosted the first meeting of the Advisory Board of Southern Gas Corridor, during which the issues of further promotion of the project and the problems that may arise in its implementation were discussed.
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