SOCAR VP: Azerbaijan weighs Nabucco West, TAP

Elshad Nassirov, vice president of Azerbaijan's state oil company SOCAR, talked to New Europe about the much-awaited gas supplies from Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz field to Europe, the choice between Nabucco West and the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) and progress on the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) that is expected to supply one of the two competing projects. Nassirov also brushed off Russia’s South Stream as competition for the EU’s Southern Gas Corridor and discussed the stalled Trans-Caspian Pipeline.

This year the partners working in the Shah Deniz 2 field are expected to make their decision on two rival pipeline options for Azerbaijani gas to flow to Europe: Nabucco West or TAP. Both pipeline consortiums have agreed to offer up to 50% of their shares to the Shah Deniz partners. Does Azerbaijan have a preference between the two projects and is it determined to supply Europe with Azeri gas?

First of all you are absolutely right, some Shah Deniz shareholders -- that is SOCAR, Statoil, BP and Total -- are participating in both projects that in Nabucco West and in TAP in order to make sure that all calculations, all analysis of the two projects are done correctly and we do not make any mistakes by choosing one or the second pipeline.



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