Azerbaijan, Turkey and Romania co-operate to ensure energy security

Azerbaijan, Turkey and Romania are co-operating to ensure the energy security of the region through all the project planned and implemented, said State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) Romania General Manager Hamza Karimov.

"Through all the projects planned and implemented, namely the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), Trans Anatolian Gas Pipeline (TANAP), the southern corridor and other commitments, we want to create a significant economic basis between the three countries, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Romania. As to our economic relations with Romania, worth mentioned is that in the summer of 2013 the TAP project was selected to provide Azeri gas to the European markets, as part of the Shah Deniz 2nd project. The TAP project provides for supplying gas from the Caspian region through Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea, near Italy's south, and further to Western Europe," said Hamza Karimov, in a declaration sent on Friday 25 April to AGERPRES.

The annual capacity of the pipeline, whose construction will begin in 2015, will be 10 billion m³. In the near future, the pipeline's extension to the countries of the Balkans and Romania, as well as the implementation of the AGRI project to carry gas to Romania and to Central Europe, which will allow the delivery of natural gas from Azerbaijan to Romania, are also in the focus of attention.

"SOCAR has been active in Romania for seven years, and the company's management has been closely involved in the Romanian market in this period. With investments of €50 million in Romania, it has opened 27 supply stations, including capital Bucharest, having created some 400 jobs. Soon, SOCAR stations will operate in all regions of Romania. Our services will be available to all consumers in Romania. Moreover, we plan to invest €50 million this year alone," said Karimov.

Azerbaijan has become a key-player in the world's energy sector but also an oil exporter, being hard to imagine the implementation of energy projects in the South Caucasus region without Azerbaijan. "Providing hydrocarbon resources from the Caspian Sea region to the European markets, Azerbaijan continues to act as a reliable partner for European countries," says the Chief Executive Officer of SOCAR Romania.

SOCAR is one of the few companies in the world which invests billions of dollars in major energy transport infrastructure projects.

Adapted from press release by Hannah Priestley-Eaton

Read the article online at: https://www.worldpipelines.com/business-news/28042014/azerbaijan_turkey_and_romania_cooperate_to_ensure_energy_security/