AzerNews: Need for Strong and Large-Scale Southern Energy Corridor
Dr. Natig Aliyev, Energy Minister of Azerbaijan highlighted the importance of the Shah Deniz II Final Investment Decision (FID) signed in December 2013. "To finally have a decision about the upstream portion of Shah Deniz II was very important for Azerbaijan because it requires a large investment of approximately $27 billion." Furthermore, he mentioned that the agreement was the final fruit of years of negotiations with private companies and foreign governments to set the foundations of the Southern Energy Corridor, a strategic link that will offer Europe an alternative source of energy.
He added that "a memorandum of understanding was also signed between the ministers of energy in several Balkan countries, meaning that the Southern Gas Corridor does not just concern Italy, but also Georgia, Turkey, Greece, and Albania. Furthermore, we are considering expanding this corridor, which is why we involved several countries in the December signing. Our desire is to have a very strong, large-scale Southern Corridor."
Accomplishing the feat of establishing an energy corridor that traverses six countries involves tremendous human, logistical and financial resources. In its first stage, the upstream portion of the project involves the drilling of 26 subsea wells in the Shah Deniz field.