There have been the wild exaggerations of the political campaigners on expanding the role of the Southern Gas Corridor, energy expert Ilham Shaban told AzVision.az.
“It is said that 15 billion cubic meters of Iranian gas can be transported through this pipeline. However, the capacity of the gas pipeline between Iran and Azerbaijan is technically designed to transfer 1 billion cubic meters of gas. It is 1.5 billion cubic meters, of which a little over 400 million is intended for Nakhchivan”, Ilham Shaban noted.
Shaban said that there are opinions that we can transfer 10, 15, 20, even 30 billion cubic meters of gas from Turkmenistan through the Southern Gas Corridor. “Today, the capacity of the Southern Gas Corridor is 16 billion cubic meters. It doesn't matter to a politician or someone unaware of the technique. They assume that when you press the button here, it will keep Europe’s lights on. But the reality is far more complicated", he highlighted.
The expert reminded that there are 8 compressor stations on the Southern Gas Corridor. ƏThe capacity of each of them must be upgraded to increase the capacity from 16,000 to 31,000 cubic meters. However, this does not mean that it is possible to transport 31,000 cubic meters to Europe. Our pipeline's capacity in Europe is a maximum of 20 billion cubic meters. We will be able to transfer 10 billion cubic meters of gas from the Shah Deniz and Absheron fields. But, of course, if there is a goal, they can find a place for Turkmen gas.
When it comes to the transfer of Russian gas to the West via Azerbaijan, the expert considers it possible. He emphasized that today more than 1 million tons of Russian oil produced in the Caspian Sea is exported to the world market via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline. In total, 10 million tons of Russian oil has been transported via Baku-Tbilisi-Jeyhan since 2015 up until now.
“Lukoil is also actively producing gas in the Russian sector. It can direct some of its gas via the Mazdok-Hajigabul pipeline, and from there to the world market. It is theoretically and practically possible to transfer 1 billion cubic meters of gas in a year through this route”, the expert added.
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