Ilham Aliyev in Brussels: A route for Gas Supplies to Europe could be Declared

The President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, in late June will visit Brussels. This was on announced on June 5, by the head of the EU Delegation to Azerbaijan Roland Kobia, who spoke at the 20th Baku International Conference Caspian Oil & Gas.

According to him, the visit will be at the invitation of European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. "I think that this meeting would take us to the issue of the Southern Gas Corridor. According to our information, the decision process is ongoing, and by early 2019 we hope to get the first gas," said Kobia.

"In the coming weeks, a final route for Azerbaijani gas supplies to Europe will be decided, and in October the final investment decision will be made on the Southern Gas Corridor," said Kobia.

Based on the words of the EU representative, it can be assumed that official Baku will announce the route choice by the consortium of Shah-Deniz on the supply of Azerbaijani gas to Europe in a festive atmosphere in Brussels.

Touching upon the importance of the Southern Gas Corridor, on which the "blue fuel" from the Caspian region will be supplied to the European market, the EU representative stressed that "this is not just projecting, but has specific opportunities and potential."

Azerbaijan is a leading country in the Southern Gas Corridor, Kobia said. "The gas from Azerbaijani Shah Deniz field is in the second stage of development and will be the first gas that will flow to Europe in early 2019. However, we consider the Southern Corridor as a multi-phase project. We expect that this pipeline will receive gas from other fields in Azerbaijan, as well as attract the Turkmen and the north-Iraqi gas," said the representative of the EU.

In this context, he noted "the inevitability of the construction of a large-scale and extensive infrastructure of gas supply in the region." "Based on this, we will continue to negotiate with Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan to build the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline. We hope that we can reach an agreement in this area," said Kobia. - 12C