Foreign

Home page

Foreign

SAMâ€™s Review on topic â€œStrategic Imperative: Azerbaijani Gas Strategy and the EUâ€™s Southern Corridorâ€ published

24 July 2012 14:01 (UTC +04:00)

The paper presents in considerable detail the geopolitical, economic, commercial and technical aspects regarding the selection of the main export route for the transportation of Shah Deniz 2 gas to Europe via Turkey. The authors laboriously analyze the different views and priorities of state, interstate and corporate actors that make up the protagonists of Europe’s Southern Gas Corridor Strategy.

The paper also analyzes the different corporate perspectives focusing on SOCARâ€™s strategic goals as well as the pros and cons of the two remaining pipeline projects. The authors believe that both TAP and Nabucco West offer significant value to Azerbaijan and SOCAR. TAP is perceived as more commercially antagonistic project, which nevertheless lacks the solid political support that Nabucco West enjoys not only from the states it transits through but also from the European Commission itself.

The authors of the article are Gulmira Rzayeva, research fellow at the Center for Strategic Studies and Theodoros G.R. Tsakiris, Senior Analyst and the journalâ€™s editor for Iran and the Caspian Sea Region at the Middle East Economic Survey.