Southern Corridor Study Concludes in Favour of ITGI

In a study entitled "The European Southern Corridor: What shape will it find?"  PFC Energy says that ITGI (Interconnector Turkey - Greece - Italy) is the only project that can be realistically implemented in order to transport Azeri natural gas to Europe in accordance with Azerbaijan’s time schedule and gas availability.

The Southern Corridor is a EU based energy project which will diversify energy supply routes and sources, and increase EU energy security.

The Nabucco gas pipeline, Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), and Interconnector-Turkey-Greece-Italy (ITGI) are all competing to transport natural gas to Europe from Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Iraq and potentially Iran.

However, PFC says that the only source certain to provide natural gas before 2020 is Shah Deniz II project in Azerbaijan. The study underlines the fact that the lack of larger available gas volumes means that only one pipeline project can be currently implemented.

The independent global consulting firm, specializing in the energy industry, notes that larger projects, in particular Nabucco, may be implemented only after 2020, and their implementation will depending on various circumstances.

The study is based on company factors that may influence the development of the Southern Gas Corridor, including the expected gas production in Azerbaijan in the next 10 years, criterias for selecting the pipeline, which will open the corridor, the level of technological readiness, business viability and security of supply.