BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb.17
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
Southern Gas Corridor, which envisages transportation of Azerbaijani gas to Europe, will contribute to further enhancing competitiveness in the European gas market, Keisuke Sadamori, Director for Energy Markets and Security at the International Energy Agency (IEA), told Trend.
Sadamori pointed out that Azerbaijan’s Southern Gas Corridor is a crucial component to the diversification of supply sources and routes to the European market.
He noted that the Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP), the longest section of the Southern Gas Corridor, has already changed the gas supply picture in Turkey since its commissioning in mid-2018.
The completion this year of the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), the final leg of the Southern Gas Corridor, will provide to Italy additional import capacity equating to over 10 percent of its annual consumption, added Sadamori.
“The Southern Gas Corridor materializes at a moment of strong competition between suppliers, with the renewal of pipeline long-term supply contracts and the surge of LNG spot imports, and will contribute to further enhance supply security and competitiveness in the market,” he concluded.
The Southern Gas Corridor project aims to increase and diversify European energy supply by bringing gas resources from the Caspian Sea to markets in Europe.
The Southern Gas Corridor comprises the following four projects: (i) operation of Shah Deniz natural gas-condensate field ("SD1" project) and its full-field development ("SD2'" project), (ii) the operation of the South Caucasus Pipeline ("SCP" project) and its expansion ("SCPX" project), (iii) the construction of the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline ("TANAP" project) and (iv) the construction of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline ("TAP" project) (SD2, SCPX, TANAP and TAP collectively, the "Projects").
The Projects have an estimated investment cost of approximately $40 billion. Upon completion, the SD2 project will add a further 16 bcm of natural gas per annum to 10.9 bcma (maximum production capacity) already produced under SD1 project.
Total length of the newly constructed SCPX, TANAP and TAP pipelines will be more than 3,200 kilometres.
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