Elvira Kadyrova
Azerbaijan is looking at very broad prospects for cooperation with Turkmenistan within the framework of the East-West or Middle Corridor project, told President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan during a press conference on Friday, 25 November.
Answering the question of the former US Ambassador, Board member of Jamestown Foundation Matthew Bryza, about how things are going with Turkmenistan in terms of the Middle Corridor, specifically an energy, Aliyev noted that the transportation routes which already are functioning will allow all the countries of the Caspian region to be more integrated.
“Azerbaijan provides important transit for cargos from Turkmenistan, and even in our Trade Sea Port in Alat we have allocated a special place for particular cargos from Turkmenistan”, he stressed.
He also recalled that gas swap operations have been launched between Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan.
According to Aliyev, the reason for this is that today there is growth in the Azerbaijani industry and there is a great need for additional volumes of gas.
He also pointed out the need to expand the system of existing pipelines through which Azerbaijani energy resources are exported to Europe.
Thus, two years ago Azerbaijan completed the construction of the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline, which is the final segment of the Southern Gas Corridor.
“But already today, we see the demand to expand the capacity twice from ten to twenty bcm. That will need, of course, a consolidated position and investments of all shareholders,” Aliyev opined.
In this regard, he expressed the hope that the partners will agree on the expansion of TANAP (Trans Anatolian gas pipeline) from 16 to 32 billion cubic meters, since its capacity is almost fully engaged.
Earlier in September, President of Azerbaijan stated that investments and a doubling of TAP’s technical capability are necessary to expand gas supplies to Europe.
That time, he stressed if Turkmenistan’s government decides to build a Trans-Caspian pipeline, Azerbaijan will support the idea, but it will not be the initiator. According to Aliyev, resource owners rather than transit nations are the ones that start projects like the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline. ///nCa, 27 November 2022