After Russia abandoned its South Stream project, the European Union decided to construct the Southern Gas Corridor. European Commissioner for Energy Union Maros Sefcovic announced the EU is considering plans for a new pipeline. The official has already won the support of the countries through the territory of which the pipeline will be built. He said Azerbaijan and Turkey have already confirmed their commitment to the projects within the Southern Gas Corridor, including the Trans-Caspian gas project.
According to him, first gas supplies are due to begin in 2019. The project’s costs are higher and the pipeline will be laid through a longer distance. However, this fact did not prevent the EU from taking such a decision.
The Southern Gas Corridor will connect the existing South Caucasus Pipeline and Trans-Anatolian and Trans Adriatic pipelines that are planned to be constructed. The new pipeline will bypass Russia and supply Europe with gas from oil fields in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, as well as from Iraq and Iran in future. The total project cost was estimated at $ 45 billion. In the first stage the corridor’s annual capacity would be about 10 billion cubic meters.
