BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 19
By Jeila Aliyeva - Trend:
The European Union has been engaging with Turkmenistan, along with Azerbaijan, on negotiations for linking Turkmen gas supplies to the Southern gas corridor, the EU delegation to Turkmenistan told Trend.
"The Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in the Field of Energy, signed between the EU and Turkmenistan in 2008, provides a framework for an information exchange on energy policies, the diversification of transit routes and the promotion of renewable and energy efficiency,-" said the delegation.
The Southern Gas Corridor is one of the priority projects for the EU and envisages the transportation of 10 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas from the Caspian region through Georgia and Turkey to Europe.
The launching ceremony of the first stage of the Southern Gas Corridor was held in Baku on May 29, 2018, while opening ceremony of The Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP)’s Phase 0 was held on June 12, 2018 in the Turkish city of Eskisehir. TANAP-Europe connection was opened on Nov.30, 2019 in Ipsala, Edirne, Turkey.
Meanwhile, Turkmenistan with its huge reserves could be one of the key countries to join the Southern Gas Corridor.
More than 190 oil and gas fields have been discovered on the territory of Turkmenistan, and the hydrocarbon reserves of deep-water fields in the Caspian sea amount to 12 billion tons of oil and more than 6 trillion cubic meters of natural gas.
VP for marketing and investment at Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR Elshad Nasirov said in 2019 that the Southern Gas Corridor can also transport gas from Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan.
Similar opinion was voiced by World Bank (WB) expert Alexander Huurdeman at the "Oil and gas of Turkmenistan-2019", the 24th international exhibition and conference, where he pointed out that with the formation of the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) in 2020, gas supplies from Turkmenistan to Europe are becoming reality.
The Southern Gas Corridor comprises the following four projects: (i) operation of Shah Deniz natural gas-condensate field ("SD1" project) and its full-field development ("SD2'" project), (ii) the operation of the South Caucasus Pipeline ("SCP" project) and its expansion ("SCPX" project), (iii) the construction of the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline ("TANAP" project) and (iv) the construction of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline ("TAP" project) (SD2, SCPX, TANAP and TAP collectively, the "Projects").
The projects have an estimated investment cost of approximately $40 billion.
---
Follow the author on Twitter: @JeilaAliyeva