Azerbaijani gas route to Europe may be agreed in early 2012

Deciding on the route for Azerbaijani gas supplies to Europe may take until the first quarter of 2012, the head of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) Rovnag Abdullayev told journalists on Monday.

He said proposals submitted on the routes are being carefully considered. "No decision if likely to have been taken to decide on the best route by the end of this month. If it is not taken then, this process will be completed during the first quarter of 2012," Mr Abdullayev said.

The development consortium of the Azerbaijani gas condensate field Shah Deniz which has a volume of reserves standing at 1.2 trillion cubic metres is now considering possible routes for exporting gas to Europe. In particular, the Southern Gas Corridor routes are being looked at.
The South Corridor is an EU priority energy project diversifying energy supply routes and sources and increasing EU energy security. The Southern Corridor includes the Nabucco gas pipeline, TAP and ITGI (Turkey-Greece-Italy pipeline).


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