Following the fourth meeting of the Advisory Council of the Southern Gas Corridor in Baku on Thursday 15 February, European Commission Vice-President with responsibility for Energy Union Maroš Šefčovič welcomed the “significant progress” made in implementation of the projects underpinning the EU’s strategic initiative to transport gas resources from the Caspian Sea region, Central Asia, the Middle East and the Black Sea to the European market.
After the meeting attended by Azeri president, Ilham Aliyev, the energy ministers of the countries involved (Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, Greece, Italy, Croatia, Bulgaria, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia) and representatives of the energy companies and international financing institutions, Šefčovič told the press that he was confident that the first supplies of Azeri gas would reach Turkey “by summer 2018” and Europe “in 2020”.
The Southern Gas Corridor will initially carry gas from the Azeri gas field of Shah Deniz-2, in the Caspian Sea, to the EU via Georgia and Turkey through three linked pipelines: the South Caucasus pipeline (SCP) from the Shah Deniz-2 field across Azerbaijan and Georgia to the Turkish border, the Trans-Anatolian pipeline (TANAP) across Turkey, and the Trans-Adriatic pipeline (TAP) from Turkey and on to Italy, via Greece and Albania.
This supply route remains open to gas from other sources, for example, from Turkmenistan and Iran, Šefčovič pointed out.
The EU has regular contact with Turkmenistan on implementation of the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline project linking Turkmenistan with Azerbaijan to supply the EU with Turkmen gas, he stated, pointing out that, in 2011, the EU adopted a mandate to negotiate a legally binding agreement between the EU, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan on construction of the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline network.
The EU is also ready to examine the possibility of linking Iran into the Southern Gas Corridor, said Šefčovič. “That will depend on the strategy followed by Iran which is currently largely centred on increasing oil exports”, he indicated. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)