EER: Azerbaijan: knock, knock, knocking on Europe's door

While policymakers and pundits debate which pipeline consortium will bring Azeri gas to European markets through the Southern Corridor, they rarely stop to think about what Azerbaijan might want out of the deal. The assumption is that state oil company SOCAR will be happy to sell gas at the Turkish border and that Ankara and Europe can safely sort out the rest of the route. However, the actions of the Azeri's show that this is a mistake. They clearly want 'in' on every part of the Southern Corridor value chain, all the way to European end consumers. High time for Brussels to consider opening its doors to Baku - or risk failure of its crucial Southern Corridor.

Baku may have given a lot of pleasant cocktail parties to prospective European gas buyers in recent years, now that it's time to do business, the partying is over. The Azeri's are making it increasingly clear that they are not content to merely sell gas at their own border. They want to actively participate in pipeline transportation, marketing, and the eventual sales of gas to EU consumers. What's more, they have a strong hand to do so. This inevitably complicates any plans Europe has in the region. If Brussels doesn't wake up to Baku's interests, the Southern Corridor could become a messy affair.  MORE