Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept.30
By Emil Ismayilov - Trend:
In the presence of additional gas volumes Azerbaijan may acquire necessity in the construction of an additional pipeline branch in the direction of Central Europe (Austria), a source of SOCAR (State Oil Company of Azerbaijan) told Trend, commenting on the possibility of reviving the Nabucco West pipeline project.
The concept of the Nabucco West project involves the construction of 1300 kilometer pipeline (Bulgaria - 412 km, Romania - 469 km, Hungary - 384 kilometers, Austria - 47 kilometers) from the Turkish-Bulgarian border to the Austrian Baumgarten.
"If we have a number of additional gas volumes from Turkmenistan, then this pipe may be needed for diversification. Thus, Italy is the first branch and the second branch will be built in Central Europe," said the source.
The Nabucco West project lost its relevance after the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) was chosen as the main supply route of Azerbaijani gas to Europe.
Nabucco West may become an offshoot from the main route, which in the presence of additional volumes of gas will be necessary for Azerbaijan as a producer and supplier of gas in the long term.
Azerbaijan's gas supplies to Europe will open the "Southern Gas Corridor", which will allow Europe to diversify its sources of hydrocarbon supplies and boost energy security, and on the other hand give Azerbaijan a new market - Europe.
In order to ensure the gas supplies to the new market, a final investment decision was made Dec. 17, 2013 on the Stage 2 of development of the Shah Deniz field. Some 10 billion cubic meters (bcm) of the field's total gas output will go to Europe, while 6 bcm will be annually delivered to Turkey.
The gas to be produced as part of the Stage 2 of the field's development, will be exported to Turkey and the European markets by means of expanding the South Caucasus Pipeline and the construction of Trans-Anatolian Gas Pipeline (TANAP) and the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP).
Edited by CN
