BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 12
By Jeila Aliyeva - Trend:
Southern Gas Corridor and all its segments can play an important role in strengthening the energy security of Turkey and European countries in the future, said Batyr Amanov, chairman of Turkmenistan's Turkmengas State Concern with rank of minister of state, Trend reports with reference to the press service of the President of Azerbaijan.
Amanov made this remark during the videoconference of the seventh ministerial meeting of the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council.
Amanov stressed that the Southern Gas Corridor plays an important role in the diversification of energy supplies for the European Union.
"As you know, gas is transported from the Caspian Sea to Turkey, and then to the countries of the European Union. We would like to note that the current efforts and our purposeful actions have served as the basis for creating a special format for today's international cooperation, " Amanov said.
According to the minister, this cooperation is successfully carried out between various states, companies and financial structures.
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 was held in Baku on May 29, 2018, while opening ceremony of The Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) Phase 0 was held on June 12, 2018, in the Turkish city of Eskisehir. TANAP-Europe connection was opened on Nov.30, 2019 in Ipsala, Edirne, Turkey.
Meanwhile, Turkmenistan with its huge reserves could be one of the key countries to join the Southern Gas Corridor.
More than 190 oil and gas fields have been discovered on the territory of Turkmenistan, and the hydrocarbon reserves of deep-water fields in the Caspian Sea amount to 12 billion tons of oil and more than 6 trillion cubic meters of natural gas.
VP for marketing and investment at Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR Elshad Nasirov said in 2019 that the Southern Gas Corridor can also transport gas from Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan.
Similar opinion was voiced by World Bank (WB) expert Alexander Huurdeman at the "Oil and gas of Turkmenistan-2019", the 24th international exhibition and conference, where he pointed out that with the formation of the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) in 2020, gas supplies from Turkmenistan to Europe are becoming reality.
The Southern Gas Corridor comprises the following four projects: (i) operation of Shah Deniz natural gas-condensate field (SD1) and its full-field development (SD2), (ii) the operation of the South Caucasus Pipeline (SCP) and its expansion (SCPX project), (iii) the construction of the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) and (iv) the construction of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP).
The projects have an estimated investment cost of approximately $40 billion.
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