Azerbaijan: No going it alone

Azerbaijan has one of the largest developed natural gas fields in the world, the Shah Deniz field. And the country’s proven gas reserves total over 1 trillion cubic meters, according to BP.

But while it aspires to sell its gas riches to western Europe, according to an article on Trend.Az getting the product there appears to depend upon numerous factors, namely whether several proposed “Southern Corridor” gas pipeline projects, like Nabucco or White Stream, among others, will come to fruition.

Azerbaijan’s success in being able to peddle its gas will depend upon its ability to cut actual gas deals with those projects’ shareholders.

The article admits “Azerbaijani gas is not enough for all these projects” and it cites the numerous suitors vying for the country’s gas.

For now, Azerbaijani gas goes to countries closer to home like Russia, Georgia, Iran and Turkey.

There may even be a risk of Baku getting in over its head if it makes too many commitments regarding its natural gas supplies. One project it is interested in is an LNG development that would deliver gas to Bulgaria and Romania across the Black Sea, involving the construction of two liquefied gas terminals.



Realization of this project can leave the projects within the Southern Corridor without gas. According to U.S. Energy Security Analysis (ESAI) analyst Andrew Reed, planned projects can not be realized with only Azerbaijani gas.



"Many of these projects are progressing, but I presume they can only come to fruition if and when Turkmenistan exports gas through Azerbaijan," Reed told Trend via e-mail.



Realization of the second stage development of Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz gas field is scheduled for 2016-17.



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