Azerbaijan’s state-backed SOCAR said it may complete gas transit talks with Turkey to ship exports from its Shah Deniz field to Europe by 26 September and sign a final deal in October, significantly boosting the prospects of the European Union’s Nabucco pipeline plans.
“We expect to complete talks with Turkey before 26 September…Turkey will be a customer of some amount of gas as well as a transit territory to ship gas to Western Europe,” Vagif Aliyev, the head of Azeri state energy firm SOCAR’s investment department, told Reuters.
Azerbaijan is negotiating to sell Ankara 6 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas per year from the second phase of the giant Shah Deniz field and to ship 10 billion cubic metres to European customers via Turkey.
