US recognizes Azerbaijan’s contribution to Europe’s energy diversification

The US recognizes Azerbaijan’s significant contribution to Europe’s energy diversification through the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC), the US Embassy in Azerbaijan told Report.

“The United States values the thirty years of partnership with Azerbaijan on economic, energy, and security cooperation. We recognize Azerbaijan’s significant contributions to European energy diversification through the Southern Gas Corridor,” the Embassy said.

The United States and the EU’s sustained support for the Southern Gas Corridor, a multinational public-private partnership, was part of our long-term goal to ensure Azerbaijan’s independence, improve European energy security, support its decarbonization efforts, and diversify gas supplies to Europe, according to the Embassy.

Speaking about the 8th meeting of the SGC Advisory Council, the Embassy noted that the United States will be represented in person by a delegation from the US Embassy including Ambassador Litzenberger and members of the Economic and Energy team.

The eighth meeting of the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council will take place on February 4 in Baku. As in previous years, all companies participating in the Southern Gas Corridor are expected to participate, including SOCAR, BP, TPAO and others, as well as representatives of countries such as Turkey, Georgia, Bulgaria, Italy, the UK, the US, Greece and Albania. Among potential participants are Romania, Croatia, Montenegro, Hungary, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia. The arrival of representatives from other countries is not excluded.

The SGC, which includes the development of the Shah Deniz field and a gas pipeline chain originating in Azerbaijan and stretching to southern Italy, was created with the aim of diversifying natural gas supplies to the EU and reducing the number of EU countries with a single source of supply. The last European section of the SGC, the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), which began commercial deliveries on December 31, 2020, has allowed the supply of Caspian gas to Greece, Bulgaria and southern Italy.