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Azerbaijani-Turkish Gas Deal Seen As Blow To Russia'S Gazprom In Eur

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  • Azerbaijani-Turkish Gas Deal Seen As Blow To Russia'S Gazprom In Eur

    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]

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