Azerbaijani gas supplies to Europe to begin in 2022-2025 – GECF

Azerbaijani gas supplies to Europe will begin in 2022-2025, Secretary General of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) Seyed Mohammed Hossein Adeli said in an interview with the “Izvestiya” Russian newspaper.

He said that Azerbaijani gas supplies to the EU will begin no earlier than in 2022-2025, while the supplies of Iranian gas will begin even later.

The GECF secretary general said that the natural gas from Azerbaijan is the alternative to Russian gas for Europe. In connection with this, the construction of Trans-Anatolian Gas Pipeline (TANAP) is underway, which is designed to supply Azerbaijani gas from the Shah Deniz field through Turkey to Europe, he said.

“According to my observations, Iran wants to resume its liquefied natural gas supply, as it would be more profitable for it to supply gas to Asia across the Arabian Sea,” he said. “The project of the Iranian gas supply through Turkey is a long-term prospect and there are no prerequisites for it for now.”

He also said that after the start of supply of Azerbaijani and Iranian gas, Europe's dependence on Russia will reduce.

“Right now, about one third of the gas consumed by the EU comes from Russia (according to the evaluation of the European Commission, the Russian gas last year accounted for 42 percent of the EU gas imports) with the emergence of TANAP and an increase in the proportion of long-term liquefied natural gas (LNG) spot supplies will fall to 25-28 percent,” said the secretary general. “Not only the GECF understands it, but also the EU.”

/By Trend/