Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov. 14 / Trend A. Badalova /
South Stream gas pipeline project, implemented by Russian Gazprom and Italian ENI, will not compete with Southern Gas Corridor, Director General of the Russian National Energy Institute Sergei Pravosudov said today.
"These two projects do not exclude each other," he told Trend today.
Russian company Gazprom said this week that the construction of the South Stream pipeline will begin on December 7.
He stressed that taking into account the forecasts for growth of gas demand in the EU countries in the long term prospect, there is enough place for Azerbaijani and Russian gas in Europe.
"Gas production in Europe is being declined and will decline in the future," he said. "The imports will increase accordingly. The EU has always showed interest in a large number of suppliers."
The Southern Gas Corridor is intended to diversify routes and sources of supply. It is aimed at ensuring EU energy security. Gas which will be produced during the second stage of Azerbaijani Shah Deniz field development is considered as the main source for the Southern Gas Corridor projects.
Currently, the Shah Deniz consortium considers two options to deliver its gas to Europe - Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) and Nabucco West. The final decision on a pipeline route will be made in 2013.
The South Stream project includes the construction of a gas pipeline across the Black Sea to the South and Central European countries.
The offshore area of "South Stream" will stretch through the Black Sea from the "Russian" compressor station on the Russian coast to the Bulgarian coast.
Two possible routes - one to the north-west, other - to the south-west are being considered for the onshore section from Bulgarian territory.
It is planned that the gas pipeline will be constructed in 2015. The design capacity of the "South Stream" is up to 63 billion cubic meters of gas per year, the estimated cost of the project is 8.6 billion euro.