Baku, Azerbaijan, May 13
By Jamila Aliyeva - Trend:
All parties to commercial projects are first of all subject to litigation rules set up by the respective project contract, head of the EU Delegation to Azerbaijan Malena Mard told Trend May 13.
She was commenting on the statement made by the new Greek government saying that the previously signed agreement on TAP gas pipeline is unprofitable.
SOCAR won a tender in December 2013 on the sale of the 66-percent stake in DESFA for 400 million euros. In November 2014, the European Commission started an investigation into the compliance of the deal on acquisition of a stake in DESFA with the EU's regulations.
Malena Mard said that the EU is a union built on the principle of the rule of law, all member states are obliged to comply with existing rules, norms and procedures that form the legal basis of the EU.
Mard further spoke on the issue of promotion of the agreement on the purchase of Greek DESFA gas transportation operator by the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan.
"The status in the implementation of the DESFA purchase agreement is what is called compatibility examination of the agreement with existing market rules," she said. "This is a standard procedure and not directed against any of the parties involved in the contract."
Mard added that in general, good progress is observed on the EU's Strategic Energy partnership with Azerbaijan to improve European energy security and the diversification of energy supplies. "The commitment to implementing the Southern Gas Corridor is of utmost importance."
The Southern Gas Corridor will allow Europe to diversify its hydrocarbon supply sources and strengthen energy security and also will allow Azerbaijan to obtain a new market in Europe. Azerbaijani gas is designed to open the Southern Gas Corridor.
As part of ensuring Azerbaijani gas supply to the European market, the final investment decision was made on Dec.17, 2013 on the Stage 2 of the Shah Deniz offshore gas and condensate field's development. The gas produced at this field will first go to the European market (10 billion cubic meters), while six billion cubic meters of gas will be annually delivered to Turkey.
The contract for development of the Shah Deniz offshore field was signed on June 4, 1996. The field's reserve is estimated at 1.2 trillion cubic meters of gas and 240 million tonnes of condensate.
As part of the second stage of the field's 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.
Edited by SI