Southern Gas Corridor to be launched on May 29 - Azerbaijani president
BAKU. May 28 (Interfax) - The official launch of the Southern Gas Corridor project to build infrastructure to supply natural gas from Azerbaijan to Europe, will take place on Tuesday, May 29, the country's President Ilham Aliyev said.
"Our gas resources will secure the supply for the next 100 and more years, for them, us and our partners. Today Azerbaijan provides not only the region's energy security, but it has also become an important country for the global energy security. Currently we are doing a lot for the implementation of the Southern Gas Corridor project, whose official opening ceremony is due tomorrow," Aliyev said at a formal reception on Monday on the occasion of the Republic Day and the 100th anniversary since the creation of the Azerbaijani democratic republic.
The project involves building pipeline infrastructure to transport Azeri natural gas, produced during Shah Deniz Stage 2, to Europe via Turkey. The project is estimated to be worth over $40 billion.
The project's main components are: Shah Deniz Stage 2, extending the Southern Caucasus pipeline from Baku via Georgia to the Turkish border, building the Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline (TANAP) between Turkey's eastern and western borders, and the Trans-Adriatic gas pipeline (TAP), connecting Greece, Albania and Adriatic Sea towards southern Italy.
Shipments to Europe are expected to begin in 2020, in the amount of 10 billion cubic meters. Azerbaijan will also be supplying 6 billion cubic meters of natural gas to western Turkish regions.