BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 24
By Jeila Aliyeva - Trend:
Turkmenistan can have an important contribution among natural gas suppliers to the Southern Gas Corridor project, Ministry of Economy, Energy and Business Environment of Romania told Trend.
“We must not forget that Turkmenistan ranks fourth in the world's natural gas reserves, after Russian Federation, Iran and Qatar,” says the ministry, adding that The Southern Corridor is of particular importance for the energy diversification of the European Union.
The gas volumes from Azerbaijan are the main source of supply for the project, but the project will considered in the next phases of development other sources of supply such as Turkmenistan, LNG terminals in Greece or others, said the ministry.
The ministry also said that the participation of Romania and Turkmenistan in the fifth ministerial meeting of the Consultative Council of the Southern Gas Corridor, organized in February, in Baku, proves the support of the two countries for this project. Turkmenistan was, like Romania, at the third participation in this important event.
The Trans Caspian Pipeline project, has been included on the European Commission's latest PCI list, thus having been awarded a strategic status, noted the ministry.
“Of course, recent developments regarding EUs approach to financing require more attention as decarbonization becomes more and more a priority. Nevertheless, we consider that the TCP could open up real chances of connecting significant volumes of Turkmen gas to the European market, supplying the Southern Gas Corridor and contributing to energy transition,” said Romanian side.
Romania has supported the Southern Corridor project from the very beginning. The project is very close to completion and Romania is interested in being part of this transport infrastructure, in its future stages of development and in having access to the volumes of gas that will be transported through this infrastructure, including potential gas volumes from Turkmenistan, clarifies the message.
“Through its membership to the European Union, its geographical position and its participation in strategic regional energy projects, Romania can provide long-term opportunities for Turkmen energy resources to access the European market.”
Furthermore, the ministry mentioned that a documentary visit of the representatives of the Romanian companies in the energy sector and of the state institutions with responsibility in the energy field took place in Turkmenistan in June 2019.
“The program of the visit included meetings at the Turkmen Ministry of Energy, the Turkmengaz and Turkmenoil companies. The Romanian delegation included representatives of important Romanian energy companies such as TRANSELECTRICA, CONPET, ROMGAZ, ELECTRICA and TRANSGAZ. The Turkmen side expressed interest in developing concrete cooperation projects in the field of energy, with the involvement of Romanian companies, given the significant gas resources held by Turkmenistan, the desire to optimize the internal infrastructure of exploitation and transport of energy resources, and expertise in the field held by Romanian companies,” concluded the ministry.
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