Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 3
By Ilkin Shafiyev – Trend:
The Azerbaijani state oil company SOCAR hopes to complete the process of selecting a contractor for the preparation of a feasibility study of the project of providing Bulgaria’s certain regions with gas by the end of the year, head of SOCAR Balkans company Murad Heydarov told Trend on Oct. 3.
"SOCAR was charged with exploration of the possibilities of participating in the project of providing Bulgaria’s certain regions with gas,” Heydarov added. “A working group was created to fulfill that. The working group held several meetings at the working level, in particular, with the Bulgarian Ministry of Energy, Bulgarian Bulgartransgaz EAD.”
“We received initial information and analyzed it,” he said. “On this basis, a decision was made to carry out a detailed feasibility study. Today we are selecting a contractor, a consultant who, in fact, will carry out a feasibility study. According to the feasibility study, a decision will be made on our participation in the project. We hope that by the end of the year the contractor will begin work."
Back in 2015, the Bulgarian government submitted a package of projects on energy cooperation to Azerbaijan. In particular, the Azerbaijani side was offered to participate in the construction of filling stations, invest in the construction of oil and gas storages, oil refineries.
Bulgaria expects to receive Azerbaijani gas through IGB, a gas pipeline that will be connected to the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP).
The initial capacity of IGB will be three billion cubic meters of gas.
TAP worth 4.5 billion euros is a part of the Southern Gas Corridor. The pipeline will connect to the Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) on the Turkish-Greek border, run through Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea, before coming ashore in Italy’s south.
The Southern Gas Corridor is one of the priority projects for the EU and envisages the transportation of 10 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas from the Caspian region through Georgia and Turkey to Europe.
The launching ceremony of the first stage of the Southern Gas Corridor project was held in Baku on May 29.
A ceremony to launch TANAP took place June 12 in the Turkish city of Eskisehir.
At an initial stage, the gas to be produced in the Stage 2 of development of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field is considered as the main source for the Southern Gas Corridor projects. Other sources can also connect to this project at a later stage.
As part of the Shah Deniz Stage 2, the gas will be exported to Turkey and European markets via the South Caucasus Pipeline, TANAP and TAP.
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