Gas exports need to take account of interests of investors and Azerbaijan – Ilham Aliyev

The European Union and Azerbaijan signed a declaration on the Southern Gas Corridor in early 2011, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said at a press conference with Austrian President Heinz Fischer in Baku.

The declaration was signed by President of the European Commission Barroso and Aliyev. The document says both sides will support realization of the Southern Gas Corridor. The European Commission and the Azerbaijani Ministry for Industry and Energy formed a working group, Trend reports.

Azerbaijan has great gas potential and is interested in its realization. One of the main projects is the Shah Deniz Field. SOCAR has recently discovered the Umid reserves. Total and Gaz de France discovered the Absheron field. Azerbaijani gas reserves increased by 600 billion cubic meters. The second phase of Shah Deniz development needs about $20 billion of investment.

Both the Azerbaijani and Austrian presidents underlined that the interests of all sides must be taken into account. A decision to be made in the near future should meet the interests of all sides.

President Heinz Fischer noted that the consortiums had introduced their proposals a few days ago. They are under consideration. Europe gives a positive rating to the Nabucco project. Austria is especially interested because the pipeline would run directly to it. There will be 100 million Europeans interested in the gas, including people in Germany, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Croatia and Slovakia.