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Azerbaijan valued partner country for International Energy Agency: Fatih Birol

22 July 2018 10:13 (UTC+04:00)
Azerbaijan valued partner country for International Energy Agency: Fatih Birol

By Trend

Azerbaijan is a valued partner country for the International Energy Agency (IEA), Executive Director of the IEA Dr Fatih Birol said in an interview with Trend.

"We are already working closely together under the EU4Energy program, improving data and statistics as well as energy policy capacity," said Birol.

The IEA executive director also spoke about his upcoming visit to Azerbaijan.

"I am very much looking forward to meeting with Azerbaijani Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov when I visit Baku this coming September. We will have much to discuss, including the important role that Azerbaijan plays as an energy transit hub, and how the IEA and Azerbaijan can build upon and further expand our good relationship," he said.

Further, Birol noted that despite its relatively small size, at least compared to some its neighbours, Azerbaijan plays a very important role in the global energy system.

"It is a major oil and gas producer and as I said earlier, a strategically important energy transit hub. Azerbaijan plays the role of an energy link between the Caspian and Europe – providing opportunities to increase global energy security and provide economic benefits to the region," he noted.

Talking about the international oil and gas projects, implemented with Azerbaijan’s active participation, Birol said that key pipelines, such as the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and the upcoming Southern Gas Corridor project have already served to strengthen the energy links between the Caspian and Europe.

"These pipelines are what allows Azerbaijani oil and gas to reach global markets. The Southern Gas Corridor will create an additional route for gas supplies to Europe, allowing for even further diversification of European gas supplies," the IEA executive director said.

The launching ceremony of the first stage of the Southern Gas Corridor project was held in Baku on May 29.

The gas from the Azerbaijani Shah Deniz field has already gone through the first segment of the Southern Gas Corridor - from the Sangachal terminal to the expanded South Caucasus Pipeline.

The Southern Gas Corridor, which costs more than $40 billion, is one of the priority projects for the EU and provides for the transportation of 10 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas from the Caspian region through Georgia and Turkey to Europe.

Total length of the BТС is 1,768 kilometers, including a 443-kilometer section running through Azerbaijan, a 249-kilometer section in Georgia and a 1,076-kilometer section in Turkey. The construction of the pipeline started in April 2003. It was filled with oil May 18, 2005.

IEA was established in November 1974. The original founding members were Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway (under a special Agreement), Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, and the United States. Joining in the following years were Greece (1976), New Zealand (1977), Australia (1979), Portugal (1981), Finland (1992), France (1992), Hungary (1997), Czech Republic (2001), Republic of Korea (2002), Slovak Republic (2007), Poland (2008), Estonia (2014), and more recently Mexico (2018).

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