Gas conference in Baku

Azerbaijan is holding the third international conference Gas Infrastructure World Caspian at the moment. The conference gathers heads of governments, major gas consumers and energy companies, who discuss the role of the Caspian region in satisfying energy demand in Europe.

This year the agenda is devoted to the ability to implement the South Corridor, the Transcaspian pipeline and alternative gas transferring technologies. Due to the exploration of the new gas deposit Absheron in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea, the expansion of the gas industry in the Caspian Sea and the role of Azerbaijan in implementation of the South Corridor project have been discussed.

Changes in the global gas market have dramatically influenced the Caspian region. Today projects for providing the EU with gas are close to implementation. Considering this, an important item of the agenda was the Transcaspian pipeline, which should connect Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan and through which Turkmen gas will be transferred to Europe. The EU mandate for negotiations on the Transcaspian pipeline caused dissatisfaction in Russia and Iran, which are against construction of a pipeline in the Caspian Sea. However, representatives of the EU insist on early implementation of the project.

The contribution by Azerbaijan to the South Corridor project was appreciated at the conference. The commissioner of the European Committee, Gunter Ottinger, said that Azerbaijan is not only a gas producer, but also a transit country. That is why the EU assesses its contribution to the South Corridor as key. Europe needs more gas from various providers, and the Caspian region can be a solution to this problem.

The representative of BP in Azerbaijan, Richard Taus, said that the project of the gas deposit Shah-Deniz soon would sign a transit agreement with Turkey. Earlier, the head of SOCAR, Rovnag Abdullayev, stated the readiness of Azerbaijan by 2013 to begin transferring gas through Turkey to Europe with a capacity of 2 billion cubic meters. “The issue is agreed between SOCAR and the Turkish national pipeline company Botas,” Abdullayev said.

Results of the first day of the conference are significant for Azerbaijan: the South Corridor is considered to be one of priorities for the European Union among energy projects. One of the major sources of gas for the first stage of implementation of these projects will be the Azerbaijani deposit Shah-Deniz, which contains 1.2 trillion cubic meters of gas.

Elmira Tariverdiyeva, Baku. Exclusively for VK.