BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb.17
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
Gas for the Southern Gas Corridor could be sourced from Israel and Turkmenistan in the future, Trend quoted Elshad Nassirov, vice president or investment and marketing at Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR as saying.
"In this phase, SOCAR aims to reach additional markets and transit gas from additional locations, as well as developing Azerbaijan's gas resources," Nassirov said on an Atlantic Council webinar.
"Azerbaijan is prepared to transit gas from multiple sources without discrimination," he said. "Energy is never used as a coercive political tool."
Nassirov said the final budget of the project came in at $33 billion, well below the original $45 billion price tag.
He noted that additional gas resources offshore Azerbaijan could flow via the SGC in the future, as could gas from Turkmenistan.
The new cooperation with Turkmenistan after signing a memorandum on Dostlug gas field in the Caspian Sea will open up more opportunities for Central Asian gas to also join the SGC, he said.
Israel could also be a future source of gas to flow through the SGC, noted Nassirov.
"Israeli gas to Turkey and then entering TANAP with swaps in the Turkish market is commercially the most viable option to export gas from the East Mediterranean into Europe and we support that option," he said.
The Southern Gas Corridor, which is comprised of Shah Deniz 2, the South Caucasus Pipeline Expansion, the Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP), and the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) became fully operational on December 31, 2020.
Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) AG confirmed on Dec. 31 the commencement of gas flows from Azerbaijan. The first gas has reached Greece and Bulgaria, via the Nea Mesimvria interconnection point with DESFA, as well as Italy, via the Melendugno interconnection point with SNAM Rete Gas (SRG).
TAP transports natural gas from the giant Shah Deniz field in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea to Europe. The 878 km long pipeline connects with the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) at the Turkish-Greek border in Kipoi, crosses Greece and Albania and the Adriatic Sea, before coming ashore in Southern Italy.
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