The European Union welcomed the selection of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) to ship Azerbaijani gas through the Southern Gas Corridor on 28 June.
EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger said TAP would boost the bloc’s security of supply. “We have a definite commitment from Azerbaijan that gas will be directly delivered to Europe through a new dedicated gas pipeline system. Whether the system consists of two gas pipelines - TANAP and TAP - or one single pipeline as earlier projects had foreseen - does not make any difference in terms of energy security. We now have a new partner for gas, and I am confident that we will receive more gas in the future,” Oettinger said.
The consortium developing Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz gas field announced on 28 June it had chosen TAP, which links to the TANAP route across Turkey, to ship natural gas to the EU.
European Commission President José Manuel Barroso also welcomed the decision by the Shah Deniz II Consortium selecting TAP as the European route of the Southern Gas Corridor. “This is a shared success for Europe and a milestone in strengthening the energy security of our Union. I am confident that today’s decision, which builds on the strategic Joint Declaration I signed with President Aliyev of Azerbaijan in January 2011, will provide further momentum to the full and rapid realization of the entire Southern Gas Corridor as a direct and dedicated link from the Caspian Sea to the European Union, which should be expanded over time,” Barroso said.
TANAP is another gas infrastructure aiming to directly link the Caspian Sea to Europe.
The Shaz Deniz II Consortium, includes the energy companies BP, Total and Azerbaijani state-owned SOCAR. The Shah Deniz II field in the Caspian Sea is set to provide an estimated 16 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year when it comes online around 2017 or 2018.
In addition, TAP will bring the gas from the Turkish border via Greece and Albania to Italy.
The EU has been looking at Azerbaijan as a way to reduce Europe’s reliance on Russian gas supplies. Azerbaijan plays an essential role as an oil supplier and the country is expected to play a similar leading role in gas supplies to Europe, Oettinger said earlier in a message sent to the participants of the Caspian Oil and Gas 2013 conference in Baku.
The Shah Deniz field, which is one of the world’s largest gas-condensate fields, was discovered in 1999. Its reserves are estimated at 1.2 trillion cubic metres of gas. Overall, the field has proved to be a secure and reliable supplier of gas to Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey as well as Europe.
“We see the Southern Gas Corridor as a multistage project,” Oettinger’s message said. “The EU expects more gas from other sources like Turkmenistan to be transported through this corridor. In this regard, we will continue the negotiations with Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan on the Trans-Caspian pipeline. We expect agreement to be reached in the nearest future.”
The Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline running around 300 kilometres will be laid from the Turkmen coast of the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijan, where it will be linked to the Southern Gas Corridor. The pipeline’s capacity is 30-40 billion cubic metres of gas per year. But the disputed status of the Caspian makes the project uncertain.
The message also emphasized that Azerbaijan is a partner of the EU not only in the energy sector but also is one of its key partners in the Eastern Partnership programme.
Two weeks ago, Barroso met with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev. “Azerbaijan is a very important partner for us – we have achieved a reliable partnership in the energy field. We want to build on this, moving to a long-term association grounded in democracy and shared values, in particular human rights and fundamental freedoms. I stressed today my personal commitment to supporting Azerbaijan in this path.
A word on our strategic energy cooperation: We did of course discuss the way ahead on the Southern Gas Corridor in detail,” Barroso said.
“We are both extremely pleased with the progress achieved on the Southern Gas Corridor since our Joint Declaration of 2011. We have both worked hard for the realisation of this strategic project for both Azerbaijan and for Europe. I wish to thank President Aliyev for his strong and continued commitment. I remember well our discussions when we met in Baku and, in fact, Azerbaijan has been delivering all the commitments that were taken at that time. And I’m proud that this declaration that I signed together with President Aliyev was at the basis of all these developments,” he added.
“The most important message today is the following: the Southern Gas Corridor is not a theoretical project on the drawing board. It is about to be realised, to the benefit of all involved. It will bring initially 10 billion cubic meters to Europe by 2019, but we will not stop here. The Corridor could in the medium term cover more than 10% of our annual needs in Europe and thus contribute to our energy security, price stability, growth and jobs,” Barroso said. “This is our common vision as President Aliyev and I agreed in 2011. This is what we will keep working for, to enhance our mutual security of supply. We believe this is in the best interest of Europe and Azerbaijan.”
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