Azerbaijan, Baku, Jan.14 / Trend A. Badalova /
Italian company Edison, being one of ITGI project shareholders, welcomes the joint declaration on Energy signed in Baku by President Ilham Aliyev and President José Manuel Barroso as a key step forward for the opening of the Southern Gas Corridor.
The joint declaration clearly shows the commitment of the European Union and Azerbaijan to the swift allocation of the Azeri Shah Deniz 2 gas resources to the opening of the Southern corridor.
A Joint Declaration on the South Gas Corridor was signed yesterday by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and head of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso. Barroso's visit to Ashgabat is scheduled for Jan. 14-15, 2011. He will hold talks with Turkmen president Gurbangulu Berdymuhammedov.
The South Corridor is a priority EU energy project diversifying energy supply routes and sources and increasing EU energy security. The South Corridor includes the Nabucco gas pipeline, Trans Adriatic Pipeline, White Stream, and ITGI.
The Azerbaijani Shah Deniz Field with reserves of 1.2 trillion cubic meters of gas is considered to be a main gas source for these projects.
Edison is committed to the development of the ITGI (Interconnector Turkey Greece Italy) project and its IGB (Interconnector Greece Bulgaria) spur-line. They represent the most advanced and competitive option to ensure physical transport of Azeri gas to where it is most needed in the EU, i.e. Southern East Europe (through Bulgaria and Greece) and Central and Northern European Markets (through Italy), Edison said.
"Furthermore, their timely realization would pave the way to the development of a broader regional set of projects, connecting the additional gas resources which will be made available to the EU," Edison said.
ITGI gas pipeline (Turkey-Greece-Italy) involves gas supplies from the Caspian region and the Middle East to the EU countries.
It includes updated Turkish pipeline infrastructure and also ITG projects such as the Turkey-Greece junction pipeline and IGI.
Greece will receive 3.6 billion cubic meters of the pipeline's planned capacity worth 11.8 billion cubic meters per year. Italy will receive the remaining amount.