By Trend

US is exploring potential ways to support bringing Turkmen gas to Azerbaijan, said the US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Karen Donfried, Trend reports.

She made the remarks at the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe, Energy, the Environment and Cyber on “U.S. Policy Towards the Caucasus”.

“Azerbaijan plays an important role in diversity and security of energy supply in the region, something we’ve partnered closely on over the years. We’ve worked closely with Azerbaijan on energy security. US strongly supports the Southern Gas Corridor. SGC contributes to diversification of Europe’s energy import routes and sources, which is a critical US policy priority right now. The US is exploring potential ways to support bringing Turkmen gas to Azerbaijan in order to increase the availability of non-Russian natural gas,” she said.

Donfried recalled that in July, EU signed an agreement with Azerbaijan to double the imports of Azerbaijani natural gas by 2027 to at least 20 billion cubic meters per year.

“A number of European countries have publicly expressed interest in securing greater access to Azerbaijani gas. Azerbaijan has considerable renewable energy potential, particularly for wind energy as well and our assistance is going to that. Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline was an early success for European energy diversification diplomacy and US-Azerbaijani cooperation,” she said.