BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 21. Azerbaijan intends to cooperate with the US in the process of expanding the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC), similarly to the first stage of the creation of the corridor, said Azerbaijani Minister of Energy Parviz Shahbazov, Trend reports.
Shahbazov made the statement during a meeting in Washington with US Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources Geoffrey Pyatt.
"During the meeting with Pyatt, the primary emphasis of discussion was the expansion of infrastructure diversification for energy supply, particularly underlining the necessity of SGC in light of current energy security challenges," the energy ministry's press release reads.
Note that, at present, Azerbaijan provides gas to eight countries globally.
"Expanding gas supplies necessitates enhancing the capacity of both the Southern Gas Corridor and the Solidarity Ring project. In the initial stage of the Southern Gas Corridor, collaboration with the US was determined for the ongoing expansion of the gas infrastructure," the statement reads.
The initiation of the first stage of SGC incurred a cost of $33 billion to facilitate the inaugural gas delivery from Azerbaijan to Europe in December 2020, supplying the EU with 10-12 billion cubic meters per year.
The expansion of the SGC could involve augmenting the capacity of the Trans-Anatolian (TANAP) gas pipeline section in Türkiye and the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) section in the EU to enable the delivery of up to 20 billion cubic meters of gas annually.
At present, Azerbaijan holds gas supply contracts with six European countries: Italy (the largest customer), Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, and Serbia.
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