Azerbaijan, Baku, June 20 / Trend /
Azerbaijan ranks third among the major oil suppliers to Italy, Azerbaijani ambassador to Italy Vagif Sadikhov said in an interview with Trend.
"Cooperation in the energy sphere between Azerbaijan and Italy is at a high level. It is enough to mention that the share of oil and oil products undoubtedly prevail in the foreign trade turnover between Italy and Azerbaijan," Sadikhov said.
He said the Italian company "Eni" has a 5-percent stake in the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan consortium. The company is interested in making the best use of the "Dan Ulduzu" and "Ashrafi" structures.
Sadikhov said diversification of energy resources' export routes is of particular importance in implementing Azerbaijan's energy strategy. In this regard, a Joint Declaration on the Southern Corridor gas was signed between Azerbaijan and the EU during the European Commission President José Manuel Barroso's visit to Azerbaijan.
"The document's most noticeable feature is the possibility to supply Azerbaijani gas directly to the European Union member countries," Sadikhov emphasized.
He said the Italian side is interested in implementing the Turkey - Greece - Italy (ITGI) pipeline project in the context of the "Southern Corridor" and strives for its implementation. Another project within the "Southern Corridor" is the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), which is a possible option for supplying Azerbaijani gas to Europe through Italy.
Azerbaijan continues to analyze the "Southern Corridor" routes and has not made a final decision on the transportation of its gas via any of them, Sadikhov underscored.
The Southern Corridor is a priority EU energy project which will diversify energy supply routes and sources, and increase EU energy security. The Southern Corridor includes the Nabucco gas pipeline, Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), White Stream, and ITGI (Turkey-Greece-Italy pipeline).