Azerbaijan launches first phase of Southern Gas Corridor

May 30, 2018

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev on Tuesday inaugurated the Southern Gas Corridor project in Sangachal terminal in Azerbaijan, which will be supplied with gas from the BP-operated Shah Deniz field in the Caspian Sea.

Stretching over 3,500 kilometers, crossing seven countries and involving more than a dozen major energy companies, the Southern Gas Corridor will connect gas supplies in the Caspian to markets in Europe for the very first time with an aim of reducing Europe’s dependence on Russian gas.

It is comprised of several separate energy projects, including development of a chain of new pipelines.

Namely, the existing South Caucasus Pipeline (SCP), which starts from the Sangachal terminal, will be expanded with a new parallel pipeline across Azerbaijan and Georgia.

Then, the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) will transport Shah Deniz gas across Turkey and the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) will take gas through Greece and Albania into Italy.

The project also includes drilling wells and producing gas from the Shah Deniz 2 offshore development located in the Caspian Sea and expansion of the Italian gas transmission network.

In addition to President Aliyev, Secretary General of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo, Secretary General of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum Yury Sentyurin and BP Chief Executive of Upstream Bernard Looney also addressed the ceremony.