Tweet
AZERBAIJANI-TURKISH GAS DEAL SEEN AS BLOW TO RUSSIA'S GAZPROM IN EUROPE
by Yuriy Roks
Nezavisimaya Gazeta website
Oct 27 2011
Russia
Azerbaijan Will Assure Energy Security of Europe. Aliyev and Erdogan
Wrecking Russia's Plans for Gasification of Old World
A few days ago Azerbaijan and Turkey signed a package of gas agreements
concerning the second stage of the Shah Deniz project. It is viewed as
the main source for the projects of the Southern Gas Corridor, which
are alternatives to Russian projects to supply gas to Europe. According
to the agreement reached, Azerbaijan will supply 10 billion cubic
meters of gas to Europe annually. The agreement was signed during
the visit of President Ilham Aliyev to Turkey.
Ilham Aliyev's visit was announced in the Azerbaijani press modestly -
the president is going to Izmir, where he will take part with Turkish
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a formal ceremony to lay the
foundations of a new oil refinery, in the construction of which the
Azerbaijani side has invested $5 billion. In practice the meeting
between Aliyev and Erdogan confirmed the profound strategic relations
between the fraternal countries, encased in a wrapping of a whole
number of grandiose events, and dealt a blow to Gazprom's position
in Europe.
Apart from laying the foundations of the joint oil refinery, Aliyev
and Erdogan opened via video linkup the AYPE-T plant, which is going
to produce low-density polyethylene, which is in wide demand in the
world. Apart from 16,000 tons of this material the plant will produce
output of 11 items annually. After this the Azerbaijani president
and the Turkish prime minister took part in laying more foundations -
those of the building of the Heydar Aliyev Technical and Industrial
Vocational Lyceum. In the words of Erdogan, the educational institution
- which will become a symbolic educational bridge between the Aegean
and Caspian seas - is intended to embody the words of Aliyev Senior
about Turkey and Azerbaijan: "One nation, two states."
The lycee is a whole group of residential, sports and educational
buildings designed for teaching almost 1,000 people.
The formal events were accompanied by speeches from Erdogan and Aliyev
in which there was no shortage of assurances of eternal brotherhood,
joint pain about Nagorno-Karabakh, and the joint fight to return it.
In this context Erdogan congratulated Aliyev on Azerbaijan's election
as a non-permanent member of the Security Council, which is capable
of facilitating a solution to the Karabakh question. But as a whole
there was not a great deal of pure politics this time. But there, in
Izmir, the first session of the Turkey-Azerbaijan High-Level Strategic
Cooperation Council took place with the participation of ministers
and heads of departments from the two countries. Questions of the
development of various spheres of bilateral relations were discussed
at it. The signing of the gas agreement became the main event in Izmir.
Apart from annual supplies of 10 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani
gas in the European direction, the sides agreed volumes of gas
supplies to Turkey from that same Shah Deniz-2 field after 2017
and a transit agreement for the transportation of Azerbaijani gas
through Turkey. Ilham Aliyev also emphasized that in the coming years
Azerbaijan will substantially increase supplies of gas: Within the
framework of the contract for the first stage of development of Shah
Deniz Turkey should receive 6.6 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani
gas annually, and within the framework of the second supplies of
another six billion cubic meters of gas are envisaged.
Analysing the agreements signed in Izmir, Seymur Aliyev, an expert
in the sphere of energy, described them as "historic both for these
countries and for Europe and the countries of the Caspian basin."
"Essentially, these agreements - among which there is a most important
document on gas transit through the territory of Turkey - have opened a
direct route for Azerbaijani gas to Europe. Apart from this, in signing
this agreement Azerbaijan removed the final obstacles to implementing
a number of large energy projects, such as the development of the
second stage of the gigantic Shah Deniz field and the construction
of large export pipelines (Nabucco, IGI, TAP).
Moreover this agreement will facilitate the implementation of such
projects as the trans-Caspian gas pipeline, and the development of
new gas fields in the Caspian and in the first place in Azerbaijan,"
Aliyev writes.
In his opinion, the agreement on gas transit allows Baku to
definitively determine the transportation route for its gas to Europe.
Previously the Nabucco, IGI, and TAP projects, which are part of the
Southern Gas Corridor, have presented proposals to their partners in
Shah Deniz, and in the near future the route will be chosen and by the
end of this year authorizations to implement the second stage of Shah
Deniz will be granted. The gas extracted from this field is viewed
as the main source for the projects of the Southern Gas Corridor,
which is one of the priorities for EU energy projects and is intended
to diversity routes and sources of energy supplies and thus increase
EU energy security, writes Seymur Aliyev.
However, supplies of gas to Europe could start much earlier than 2017.
Already today Turkey is re-exporting some Azerbaijani gas to Greece.
The existence of a transit agreement between Azerbaijan and Turkey has
basically connected the energy chain of Europe and the Caspian region.
This agreement opens the route to Europe not only for gas from Shah
Deniz but also from other Azerbaijani fields. "With the signing of
the transit agreement Europe has become even closer to Azerbaijan.
Precisely Brussels has become closer to Baku, which is explained by
the vital need for diversification of energy supplies to the European
Union. This is also explained by the fact that today Azerbaijan is the
sole realistic supplier of natural gas in this direction, possessing
large proven reserves of 2.6 billion cubic meters," Seymur Aliyev
sums up.
[translated from Russian]
by Yuriy Roks
Nezavisimaya Gazeta website
Oct 27 2011
Russia
Azerbaijan Will Assure Energy Security of Europe. Aliyev and Erdogan
Wrecking Russia's Plans for Gasification of Old World
A few days ago Azerbaijan and Turkey signed a package of gas agreements
concerning the second stage of the Shah Deniz project. It is viewed as
the main source for the projects of the Southern Gas Corridor, which
are alternatives to Russian projects to supply gas to Europe. According
to the agreement reached, Azerbaijan will supply 10 billion cubic
meters of gas to Europe annually. The agreement was signed during
the visit of President Ilham Aliyev to Turkey.
Ilham Aliyev's visit was announced in the Azerbaijani press modestly -
the president is going to Izmir, where he will take part with Turkish
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a formal ceremony to lay the
foundations of a new oil refinery, in the construction of which the
Azerbaijani side has invested $5 billion. In practice the meeting
between Aliyev and Erdogan confirmed the profound strategic relations
between the fraternal countries, encased in a wrapping of a whole
number of grandiose events, and dealt a blow to Gazprom's position
in Europe.
Apart from laying the foundations of the joint oil refinery, Aliyev
and Erdogan opened via video linkup the AYPE-T plant, which is going
to produce low-density polyethylene, which is in wide demand in the
world. Apart from 16,000 tons of this material the plant will produce
output of 11 items annually. After this the Azerbaijani president
and the Turkish prime minister took part in laying more foundations -
those of the building of the Heydar Aliyev Technical and Industrial
Vocational Lyceum. In the words of Erdogan, the educational institution
- which will become a symbolic educational bridge between the Aegean
and Caspian seas - is intended to embody the words of Aliyev Senior
about Turkey and Azerbaijan: "One nation, two states."
The lycee is a whole group of residential, sports and educational
buildings designed for teaching almost 1,000 people.
The formal events were accompanied by speeches from Erdogan and Aliyev
in which there was no shortage of assurances of eternal brotherhood,
joint pain about Nagorno-Karabakh, and the joint fight to return it.
In this context Erdogan congratulated Aliyev on Azerbaijan's election
as a non-permanent member of the Security Council, which is capable
of facilitating a solution to the Karabakh question. But as a whole
there was not a great deal of pure politics this time. But there, in
Izmir, the first session of the Turkey-Azerbaijan High-Level Strategic
Cooperation Council took place with the participation of ministers
and heads of departments from the two countries. Questions of the
development of various spheres of bilateral relations were discussed
at it. The signing of the gas agreement became the main event in Izmir.
Apart from annual supplies of 10 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani
gas in the European direction, the sides agreed volumes of gas
supplies to Turkey from that same Shah Deniz-2 field after 2017
and a transit agreement for the transportation of Azerbaijani gas
through Turkey. Ilham Aliyev also emphasized that in the coming years
Azerbaijan will substantially increase supplies of gas: Within the
framework of the contract for the first stage of development of Shah
Deniz Turkey should receive 6.6 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani
gas annually, and within the framework of the second supplies of
another six billion cubic meters of gas are envisaged.
Analysing the agreements signed in Izmir, Seymur Aliyev, an expert
in the sphere of energy, described them as "historic both for these
countries and for Europe and the countries of the Caspian basin."
"Essentially, these agreements - among which there is a most important
document on gas transit through the territory of Turkey - have opened a
direct route for Azerbaijani gas to Europe. Apart from this, in signing
this agreement Azerbaijan removed the final obstacles to implementing
a number of large energy projects, such as the development of the
second stage of the gigantic Shah Deniz field and the construction
of large export pipelines (Nabucco, IGI, TAP).
Moreover this agreement will facilitate the implementation of such
projects as the trans-Caspian gas pipeline, and the development of
new gas fields in the Caspian and in the first place in Azerbaijan,"
Aliyev writes.
In his opinion, the agreement on gas transit allows Baku to
definitively determine the transportation route for its gas to Europe.
Previously the Nabucco, IGI, and TAP projects, which are part of the
Southern Gas Corridor, have presented proposals to their partners in
Shah Deniz, and in the near future the route will be chosen and by the
end of this year authorizations to implement the second stage of Shah
Deniz will be granted. The gas extracted from this field is viewed
as the main source for the projects of the Southern Gas Corridor,
which is one of the priorities for EU energy projects and is intended
to diversity routes and sources of energy supplies and thus increase
EU energy security, writes Seymur Aliyev.
However, supplies of gas to Europe could start much earlier than 2017.
Already today Turkey is re-exporting some Azerbaijani gas to Greece.
The existence of a transit agreement between Azerbaijan and Turkey has
basically connected the energy chain of Europe and the Caspian region.
This agreement opens the route to Europe not only for gas from Shah
Deniz but also from other Azerbaijani fields. "With the signing of
the transit agreement Europe has become even closer to Azerbaijan.
Precisely Brussels has become closer to Baku, which is explained by
the vital need for diversification of energy supplies to the European
Union. This is also explained by the fact that today Azerbaijan is the
sole realistic supplier of natural gas in this direction, possessing
large proven reserves of 2.6 billion cubic meters," Seymur Aliyev
sums up.
[translated from Russian]