Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb. 12 / Trend A.Akhundov /
Azerbaijan does not compete with the Russian Gazprom on the issue of gas supplies to Europe, the vice-president of SOCAR (State Oil Company of Azerbaijan) on investments and marketing, Elshad Nasirov said on Tuesday during discussions held in Baku within the committee meeting on energy security of the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly (PA).
"Given the modest amounts, we can not afford to compete with the monopoly, such as Gazprom. Moreover, the projected 20-30 billion cubic meters of gas will find its customers, as the gas will be supplied not by a new route, but through the new corridor," Nasirov said.
For example, according to him, the South Stream project pipeline is not only a new transport corridor, but also a new production for new customers.
"The energy sector today requires reassessment of European consumers. Ukrainian-Russian gas crisis [...] marked the first signal that the Europeans have overestimated their energy policy," Nasirov said.
Currently, a consortium for the development of Azerbaijani gas condensate field Shah Deniz is considering two options for transporting its gas to Europe, Nabucco West and Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) projects. Both of these projects are considered within the Southern Gas Corridor project. Within the second stage of the development of Shah Deniz, Azerbaijan plans to export 10 billion cubic meters of gas per year to Europe.
The Southern Corridor is one of the EU's priority energy projects aimed at diversifying the routes and sources of energy supply, thereby increasing secure delivery. Gas which will be produced during the second stage of the Azerbaijani Shah Deniz field development is considered as the main source for the Southern Gas Corridor projects.
Total reserves of the Shah Deniz field are estimated at 1.2 trillion cubic meters of gas. It is projected to produce 16 billion cubic meters of gas within the second stage of development.