Turkmenistan has capability to supply the European market with natural gas, the Deputy Chairman of the Turkmengas State Concern Atamyrat Chariyev said during the 8th Ministerial Meeting of the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) Advisory Council on Friday in Baku.
The event included sessions on the Southern Gas Corridor: Achievements and Prospects – Extension of the SGC towards New Energy Markets, including the Western Balkans and Energy Transition - from Fossil Fuels and Methane Reduction Measures to a Carbon Neutrality: Paths, Challenges and Schedules.
During the meeting, the Deputy Chairman of the Turkmen national gas production company Chariyev said Turkmenistan has the technical capability and resource base to ensure the supply of natural gas in the western direction, in the quantities necessary to meet the needs of the Eastern European market, the state news agency of Azerbaijan AZERTAC reports.
“We are convinced that one of the important infrastructure projects that can make an invaluable contribution to the energy security of European countries is the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline,” Chariyev stated.
The Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Fatih Donmez said the realization of the SGC and the transportation of commercial gas to Europe are important steps.
“In order to increase the volume of gas to be transported through the corridor, we need additional resources and additional resource countries. From this point of view, we are ready to further develop our cooperation with Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan for the welfare of our region,” Fatih Donmez added during his speech.
The meeting was also attended by European Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson, European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi, and high-level representatives from US, UK, Georgia, Italy, Greece, Bulgaria, Albania, Croatia, Hungary, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, North Macedonia, Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Ukraine.
The implementation of the agreement between Turkmenistan, Iran and Azerbaijan on a natural gas swap for up to two billion cubic meters of Turkmen gas has started in January 1, 2022. Under the agreement, up to 2 billion cubic meters of gas will be annually transported from Turkmenistan to Azerbaijan through Iran.
Turkmen and Azerbaijani governments inked the Memorandum of Understanding on joint exploration and development of hydrocarbon resources of the Dostluk field in the Caspian Sea on January 21 last year. According to the experts, the Dostluk field’s reserves are estimated at around 60 million tons of oil and 100 billion cubic meters of natural gas.
The transportation of hydrocarbon resources extracted from the Dostluk field, intended for export to international markets, will be carried out on the basis of competitive conditions using the existing transport and transit systems of Azerbaijan.
