Baku, Azerbaijan, March 12
By Aygun Badalova - Trend:
Azerbaijan and Turkey will become important players in ensuring Europe's energy security in the future, Yusuf Cinar, President of the Turkish International Research Center Strategic Outlook, told Trend on 'This week in focus' episode.
He said that from this point of view, the Trans-Anatolian Gas Pipeline (TANAP) project, implemented by Azerbaijan and Turkey, is a very important project for Europe.
TANAP is a part of the Southern Gas Corridor, which is one of the priority energy projects for the EU. The project is aimed at diversification of routes and sources of energy supply and thereby increase EU's energy security. It envisages the delivery of gas from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz gas and condensate field to 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.
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.
"This project will provide the EU with an alternative source of supply," Cinar said. "The EU, which is greatly dependent on Russian supplies, wants to find an alternative to these supplies."
While speaking about the relations between Azerbaijan and Turkey, Cinar said that the countries are close partners, and the energy co-op intensifies the bilateral relations between them.
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Aygun Badalova is Trend Agency's staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @AygunBadalova