Baku summarizes implementation of Southern Gas Corridor

Azerbaijani Minister of Energy Parviz Shahbazov and EU Commissioner for Budget and Human Resources Gunther Oettinger held a press conference today following the fifth ministerial meeting of the SGC Advisory Council in Baku.

The Azerbaijani minister sad that the number of countries that participated in the ministerial meeting reached 17 this year. "For the first time, Hungary, Serbia and San Marino took part in the meeting. This shows that interest in this project is growing year by year," the correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza cited Shahbazov as saying.

In addition, the minister noted the Stage 2 of development of the Shah Deniz field, the expanded South Caucasus Pipeline and the section of the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) are completed. "The Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) project, which envisages transportation of Azerbaijani gas to Europe, is 85% completed," he added.

Shahbazov also noted that the plans for the future and the forthcoming work of the committee were discussed at the meeting, and a declaration was signed at the end of the meeting.

EU Commissioner for Budget and Human Resources Gunther Oettinger, in turn, said that Azerbaijan is a strategic gas partner for the EU. By using the example of the Netherlands, he noted that gas volumes in Europe are decreasing every year.

"In the next ten years, there are plans to double the volume of gas supplied to Europe via the SGC to 20-25 billion cubic meters," the EU Commissioner stressed.

He added that the signing of the declaration of the fifth ministerial meeting of the SGC Advisory Council will strengthen Azerbaijan’s mutually beneficial partnership with the EU.