US admitted that there are still some countries opposed to Southern Gas Corridor

As a strategic partner and friend of Azerbaijan, US will continue cooperation on the Southern Gas Corridor and other projects, which will be implemented in the future, Amos Hokstein, Special Envoy and Coordinator of the US Department of States for International Energy Affairs, told journalists in Baku on July 11, 2015.

He said the US delegation has met with Azerbaijani President to discuss the issues of energy safety and Azerbaijani gas export to the West, which is a part of solution to the problem of Europe’s energy safety.

He said goal of his visit is to continue dialogue between Azerbaijan and US, which is based on the unity of positions and efforts.

Asked by Turan what is the US support to the Southern Gas Corridor. The US companies do not take part in the project, what are your interests?, Hokstein said: “The Southern Gas Corridor is a difficult project from commercial, technical, political and diplomatic sides.

“The US provides diplomatic and strategic support to the project. Some countries would like to see the project fail and some countries support the ideas of other pipelines and projects. I believe that the project of the Southern Gas Corridor implemented by Azerbaijan will really safeguard energy safety of Europe.  Therefore, the US government will continue supporting this project at all the levels as the main project ensuring energy safety of Europe,” Hokstein said.

As far as participation of the US companies in the project is concerned, the special envoy said that the US energy sector is fully private. “We cannot tell our companies where to invest capital. US would like to help companies and our support is not a business initiative, but a strategic support,” Hokstein said.

Hochstein visited Baku in February 2015 to attend the session of the Coordination Council of the Southern Gas Corridor.—0-