Azerbaijani gas to reach Europe by 2020

Speaking at a panel discussion at the Energy Security Conference in Berlin, Aliyev said a quarter of the construction on Southern Gas Corridor had been completed.

"We are sure that this project will be successfully fulfilled and implemented,” said Natiq Aliyev.

"We are very encouraged to deliver 10 billion cubic meters of gas to Bulgaria, Greece and Italy in 2020,” he added.

The Southern Gas Corridor is to carry natural gas starting from Azerbaijan near the Caspian Sea, to pass through Turkish territory to reach Greece, and then further on to Albania and Italy.

Aliyev expressed his confidence in the Southern Gas Corridor and underlined that Azerbaijan will be a key country for Europe’s efforts in diversifying its energy sources.

"Diversification is the main factor of the energy security. EU and European countries understand it very well,” Aliyev told to an audience of senior European politicians and experts.

"For the last 10 years, they have been working very hard on the diversification, not only the routes but also the sources. Now one of the real sources for Europe is Azerbaijan,” he stressed.

The Southern Gas Corridor would bring Azeri gas to Europe through three pipelines — the South Caucasus Pipeline, the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline, TANAP, and the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline, TAP, along with an interconnector between Bulgaria and Greece.

Aliyev said that with the completion of TANAP by 2019, Azerbaijan will also increase its gas supplies to Turkey from 6 billion cubic meters today to 12.6 billion cubic meters, to become the second biggest supplier of the country.

The groundbreaking ceremony of the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline was held in March, in the northeastern Turkish city of Kars.

The project involves global energy companies SOCAR of Azerbaijan, Norway’s Statoil, British Petroleum, Fluxes, Engages and Apo.