Azeri gas may reach Greece as early as mid-2007 after Turkey builds an additional transit link for the fuel, Azeri Economy Minister Haydar Babayev said on Tuesday.
Greece and Azerbaijan will hold intergovernmental talks on March 14-16, he said. “The key issue which Greece wants to raise at the talks is the gas supply issues,” Babayev told reporters.
He said Turkey would be ready to pipe Azeri gas on to Europe this summer. Azeri gas is seen as an important new source of energy for Europe as the continent is wary of its growing reliance on Russian gas. Azerbaijan’s top gas field is the giant Shakh Deniz deposit, led by BP and Statoil, which have already presold most of their first phase output to Turkey and Georgia.
The two majors have said they will not have enough gas to start large-scale exports to southern Europe via Turkish territory before 2012, when Shakh Deniz is due to boost output.
Turkey last year delayed putting on stream a $300 million, 285-kilometer gas pipeline linking it to Greece but said it should be commissioned before 2008.
(Reuters, 28/02/2007)