Azeri gas to reach Europe by 2020: Minister

Speaking at a panel discussion at the Energy Security Conference in Berlin on May 7, Aliyev said a quarter of the construction on the Southern Gas Corridor had been completed.

“We are sure that this project will be successfully fulfilled and implemented,“ said Natiq Aliyev, adding that he felt encouraged to be able to  deliver 10 billion cubic meters of gas to Bulgaria, Greece and Italy in 2020. 

The Southern Gas Corridor is to carry natural gas starting from a part of Azerbaijan close to the Caspian Sea, passing through Turkish territory to reach Greece and continuing on to Albania and Italy.

 Aliyev expressed his confidence in the Southern Gas Corridor and underlined that Azerbaijan will be a key country for Europe’s efforts to diversify its energy sources.

“Diversification is the main factor of the energy security. EU and European countries understand this very well,” Aliyev told an audience of senior European politicians and experts.

“For the last 10 years, they have been working very hard on the diversification, not only through routes but also sources. Now one of the real sources for Europe is Azerbaijan,” he said.

The Southern Gas Corridor would bring Azeri gas to Europe through three pipelines: the South Caucasus Pipeline, the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) and the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), along with an interconnector between Bulgaria and Greece.

Aliyev said with the completion of TANAP by 2019, Azerbaijan will also increase its gas supplies to Turkey from 6 billion cubic meters to 12.6 billion cubic meters, thus becoming the country’s second biggest gas supplier.

The groundbreaking ceremony of TANAP was held in March, in the northeastern Turkish city of Kars.
The project involves global energy companies such as SOCAR of Azerbaijan, Norway’s Statoil, British Petroleum, Fluxes, Engages and Apo.