Southern Corridor Momentum Continues Amid Renewed Focus on Infrastructure
Azerbaijan’s authorities said that they will contribute to the diversification of Europe’s energy needs, with Azeri newspapers adding that the Shah Deniz field will force Russia to reduce gas prices.
‘At the joint press conference, Azerbaijan’s Minister of Economic Development Shahin Mustafayev Abdulla oglu emphasised that Azerbaijan is a priority partner for Europe in the field of energy security, as natural gas will be transported to Europe from Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz gas field through the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) and the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP)’ reads a note released by Hungary’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
After a two-day meeting of the Hungarian-Azerbaijani Joint Economic Committee, Budapest said that any other project would only be ‘a long-term plan or a dream.’
Meanwhile, Azernews wrote that the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria is promising. Quoting Bulgarian experts, the media outlet said that the project could translate into a reduction of Russian gas prices.
Also on Thursday, European Commissioner for Energy and Climate Change Arias Cañete remarked the importance of new “external sources.”
“First we need to ensure that Europe, and its countries and regions, have access to sufficiently diverse external suppliers. As the stress tests have shown, still too many EU countries are entirely dependent on Russian gas for their supply” he said on Thursday during the Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE) 13th Annual Conference.
He said that the European Union made significant progress in pursuing the opening of the Southern Gas Corridor, underling the projects for Europe’s energy security. The project delivering Azeri gas to Europe would integrate into a wider strategy, comprising projects in the Mediterranean, closer cooperation with Norway and a greater focus on LNG.
“We need to focus on the most important LNG infrastructure projects. And I can today announce as part of the Energy Union package, that we will come forward with a comprehensive strategy for LNG and storage early next year.”
Similarly, Jean-Claude Depail, GIE President, said that gas infrastructure is key to achieve all the aims of the Energy Union.
‘Mr Depail hopes that the legislative proposals that will be proposed soon will take the right options to ensure the proper role of gas in the future European energy mix’ reads a communiqué released by GIE, which also focused on the role of transmission, storage and LNG regasification terminals to achieve security of supply and solidarity, effective internal market, decarbonisation, energy efficiency, innovation and competitiveness.