Implementation of the Southern Gas Corridor project will help to strengthen energy safety of Europe, said Oreli Bro, researcher of the French Institute of International Affairs (IFRI).
She said this is one of the reasons why the EU has intensified its talks on the energy cooperation with Turkmenistan.
Earlier Marosh Shefchovich, European Commission Vice President, said after the talks in Turkmenistan that EU hopes to receive Turkmenistan gas 2019.
Bro told Trend that another reason of intensification of gas talks between EU and Turkmenistan is that EU would like to play more active role at the world energy markets. In particular, one of the most important goals of the EU is to create the European Energy Union, the draft of which was submitted on February 25, 2015.
An important reason of intensification of talks between Turkmenistan and EU is worsening of relationships between Russia and EU since 2014, she added.
Bro said that both the EU member-states and the Caspian region countries are interested in implementation of the Southern Gas Corridor. It will allow the EU diversifying its gas sources and it will give a chance to the Caspian basin states to diversify gas export. Bro also believes that Iran and Iraq could join the Southern Gas Corridor in medium and long term, which will contribute to its expanding.
However, she said it is hard to say now if the trans-Caspian pipeline will be built in the near future.
