Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Turkey sign energy declaration with EU
Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Turkey have signed a declaration with the European Union in the energy sphere. The document was signed during the meeting in Ashgabat with participation of the heads of oil and gas ministries of Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Turkey and high-ranking representatives of EU.
The document said that the sides support the creation of favorable conditions necessary for ensuring reliable, stable and long-term international energy cooperation taking into account the interests of producers, transit countries and consumers of energy resources.
The sides also recognized the importance of the equal and mutually beneficial cooperation in ensuring the supply of natural gas from Turkmenistan to Europe.
It is expected that a working group at the level of deputy ministers of the structures responsible for the energy sphere of Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Turkey and EU will be created for further negotiations.
Azerbaijan becomes commercial operator in South Caucasus gas pipeline
SOCAR (State Oil Company of Azerbaijan) has become the commercial operator of the South Caucasus gas pipeline through which Azerbaijan currently sells its gas to Georgia and Turkey. Previously, Norwegian Statoil was the commercial operator of the pipeline. It left the project by selling its share to the Malaysian Petronas company. Norway's Statoil sold also its 15.5-percent share in the Shah Deniz project to Petronas.
Transferring of the commercial operatorship in Azerbaijan Gas Supply Company and South Caucasus gas pipeline to SOCAR is a very important step in increasing the use of local potential as part of the PSA projects in Azerbaijan, SOCAR president Rovnag Abdullayev said.