EU and US support Southern Gas Corridor project

The EU-US Energy Council continues to provide strong support for the opening of the Southern Gas Corridor, including the construction of the Trans-Adriatic Gas Pipeline (TAP).

A statement following the US-EU Energy Council in Washington on Wednesday highlighted the importance of the Greece-Bulgaria interconnect and the creation of liquefied natural gas terminals in Croatia, as well as in Greece if there is market demand.

The US-EU Energy Council was co-chaired by the head of European diplomacy Federica Mogherini and Secretary of State John Kerry.

The Southern Gas Corridor is one of the priorities for EU projects and provides for the transportation of 10 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas from the Caspian region to Europe through Georgia and Turkey.

At the initial stage, gas to be produced within the second phase of the development of the Azerbaijani Shah Deniz gas condensate field is considered as the main source of the project. At a later stage, other sources may be connected to the Southern Gas Corridor project.

The TAP project involves the transportation of gas to EU countries from the second stage of development of the Azerbaijani Shah Deniz gas condensate field. The pipeline, with a length of about 870 km, will be connected to another gas pipeline - TANAP - on the Turkish-Greek border and will pass through Greece, Albania, the Adriatic Sea, and then to the south of Italy.

The first gas from the Azerbaijani Shah Deniz gas field is expected to reach Europe via TAP in 2020. The initial capacity of TAP will be 10 billion cubic meters per year, with the possibility of expanding to 20 billion cubic meters.