Southern Corridor: Azerbaijan Says Both Pipeline Projects Valid

Azerbaijan is confident about the realization of a pipeline to carry gas from the Shah Deniz field to Europe and has not expressed a public preference for one of the two  projects. The BP-led consortium will announce its decision by the end of the month, picking the Trans-Adriaitc Pipeline or Nabucco West.

“From the point of view of Azerbaijan, the most important thing is that the gas from Shah Deniz II is actually delivered to European markets. Whether it happens through Nabucco West or TAP, that is a decision of the consortium,” Azerbaijani Ambassador to the United States Elin Suleymanov said on Sunday talk show – Platts Energy Week.

Suleymanov added that both the options are valid and valuable, in line with the criteria published by the consortium.

“The criteria are technical, legal and commercial. So it has to be commercial, it has to have a stable legal regime and it has to be scalable,” explained the Azerbaijani Ambassador to the US.

According to the diplomat, Azerbaijan does not intend to compete with Russia through the Southern Corridor.

“We are not talking about taking over markets. We are talking about adding an element of diversity and therefore energy security to the market,” said Suleymanov referring to the project to export gas to Europe in the next future.

The BP-led consortium will transport 10 billion cubic meters of gas annually to the European Union.