By  Trend

The European Union welcomes the interest of additional suppliers to join the Southern Gas Corridor project, which envisages transportation of Azerbaijani gas to Europe, European Commission Vice-President for Energy Union Maros Sefcovic told Trend.

"Our vision of the Southern Gas Corridor is not limited to the Shah Deniz II field. We therefore welcome the interest of potential additional suppliers of natural gas from the Caspian Basin, Central Asia, the Middle East, the Eastern Mediterranean Basin and the Black Sea to use the Southern Gas Corridor to further diversify natural gas supplies to Europe," said the European Commission’s vice-president.

"We have been engaging with both, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan with respect to the Trans-Caspian pipeline over the past years."

He added that the EU stands ready to continue talks on the modalities for potential, commercially viable deliveries on the basis of the Ashgabat declaration from May 2015.

Ashgabat Declaration is meant for development of energy cooperation between Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Turkey and the EU.

The European Union adopted a mandate in 2011 to negotiate a legally binding treaty between the EU, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan to build a Trans Caspian Pipeline System.

This was the first time that the European Union proposed a treaty in support of an infrastructure project.

The Trans Caspian Pipeline agreement will set the basis for the construction of a submarine pipeline connecting Turkmenistan to Azerbaijan, and in turn link this pipeline to infrastructure that will bring gas from Central Asia to the EU.

Discussions with Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan focus on inter alia a treaty setting out legal commitments between the European Union, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan, the bilateral arrangements necessary for Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan to achieve the commissioning, building, and operation of the Trans Caspian Pipeline itself, and the legal framework that will apply to filling the pipeline with gas from Turkmenistan, including an appropriate recognition of commercial arrangements.