Southern Gas Corridor Needs to be Expanded - US Ambassador

The United States highly appreciates the role of the Southern Gas Corridor in ensuring the energy security of Europe. This was also noted by NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg during his yesterday's call to President Aliyev, stated the US Ambassador to Azerbaijan Lee Litzenbergerat a briefing on Wednesday, answering Turan's question about the possibility of expanding this project.

“The role of Azerbaijan is great, as Russia destabilizes the situation around Ukraine, reducing gas supplies to Europe. Therefore, steps to diversify gas supplies are very important. The Southern Gas Corridor has the potential to double gas supplies, although this requires some investment and time. As for the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline, this is another opportunity to "unblock" the huge reserves of Turkmen gas and bring them to Europe. This requires the decision of sovereign countries and the investment of private companies,” the ambassador said.

As for Iranian gas, Azerbaijan, Iran and Turkmenistan agreed to exchange certain volumes of gas within the Southern Gas Corridor. “We are open to any options for increasing gas supplies to Europe, because they all go through Azerbaijan. This is good for Azerbaijan and good for the US,” the ambassador stressed.

In response to a clarifying question whether Iranian gas deliveries via the Southern Gas Corridor do not contradict US sanctions against Iran, the ambassador made it clear that sanctions are not applicable to this case.