Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 2
Trend:
The US has included the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) project, through which gas from Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz field will be delivered to Europe via Turkey, to the exception list of the anti-Iran sanctions that will be resumed in the coming days, TASS reported citing a notification of the US Treasury Department, published Nov. 2 in the US Federal Register.
These measures will enter into force on Nov. 5.
The document says that anti-Iran restrictions are not applied to persons who commit or assist transactions related to projects ... aimed at developing (deposits of) natural gas and building and operating a pipeline for transporting natural gas from Azerbaijan to Turkey and Europe.
The document reads that the US excluded from anti-Iran sanctions the projects that ensure energy security and energy independence of Turkey and the countries of Europe from Russia and Iran.
The gas to be supplied through the Southern Gas Corridor will be produced at Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz Stage 2. Russia's Lukoil owns a 10 percent share in the project. National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) also has a 10 percent share there.
The Southern Gas Corridor, which costs more than $40 billion, is one of the priority projects for the EU and provides for the transportation of 10 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas from the Caspian region through Georgia and Turkey to Europe.