The Azerbaijani side is always ready to offer its transit opportunities in the case of implementation of the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline project, Rovnag Abdullayev, head of the Azerbaijani State Oil Company (SOCAR), told journalists on April 23.
The Trans-Caspian gas pipeline project is the topic of negotiations between Turkmenistan and the European Union (EU), according to SOCAR’s head.
Turkmenistan’s hydrocarbon resources can be delivered to the European market through the Caspian Sea by constructing a 300 kilometer pipeline along the sea bottom to the coast of Azerbaijan.
Then the fuel can be sent to Turkey which has a common border with European countries.
The Trans-Caspian gas pipeline could become a part of the large-scaled projects, including AGRI and TANAP, in which Ankara and Baku actively participate.
Ashgabat believes that for laying pipes under the Caspian Sea, the legal status of which has not yet been determined, the consent of both Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan and those territories covered by the project is sufficient.
Azerbaijan has expressed readiness to offer its territory, transit opportunities and infrastructure for implementing this project.
The negotiations between the EU, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan on the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline, began in September 2011.
A framework agreement on cooperation in deliveries of Turkmen natural gas to Turkey and further to Europe was signed between the governments of Turkmenistan and Turkey in July 2013 after the high-level talks in Ashgabat.
