BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan.22
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
The signing of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) covering the exploration and development of the Dostlug oil and gas field is an important news for four reasons, Francis Perrin, Senior Fellow at the Policy Center for the New South (PCNS, Rabat) and at the French Institute for International and Strategic Affairs (IRIS, Paris), told Trend.
The expert was commenting on the memorandum of understanding inked between Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan on Jan.21 on the exploration and development of Dostlug oil and gas field in the Caspian Sea.
He pointed out that first, it should lead to the development of an additional hydrocarbons field in the Caspian Sea.
“Secondly, it could contribute to the advance of the Trans-Caspian pipeline project. Beyond Dostlug one of the major advantages of this pipeline scheme would be to link Turkmenistan, which controls huge gas reserves, to the European market through Azerbaijan. The European Union is trying to diversify its gas supplies and the Caspian Sea region is part of this strategy. Europe began importing Azerbaijani gas through the Southern Gas Corridor about three weeks ago. Third, it could be a good test of the implementation of the Convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea, which was signed in August 2018 by the five littoral states, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan,” said the expert.
Perrin noted that the fourth reason is that it should lead to a development of the energy and economic cooperation between Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. “There is a great potential in terms of energy partnerships between these two countries and Dostlug is an opportunity to materialize part of this potential.”
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