"At the end of the year, December 31, another good thing happened - the Southern Gas Corridor became fully operational. Its last segment, TAP, was activated," the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, said while summing up the results of 2020.
According to Aliyev, this is the most important energy event and a historic achievement for Azerbaijan because, for the first time, Azerbaijani gas was supplied to Europe.
"For the first time in history, Azerbaijani gas has been delivered to Europe. This is our historic achievement. We were the initiators of the Southern Gas Corridor and took on the main financial burden. With this project, the cooperation of the Eurasian countries was further deepened in the transport and trade sectors. We have compiled an energy map of Eurasia. We have built three interconnected gas pipelines with a length of 3,500 kilometers, as a result of which European consumers are already receiving Azerbaijani gas. It is beneficial for them and us. We have successfully completed other projects. I am confident that these projects will bring additional dividends to Azerbaijan, both economic and political ones," Aliyev stated.
According to the natural gas balance approved for 2021, Georgia will receive 1.014 bln m³ of gas in exchange for transferring Azerbaijani gas. The volume of additional gas allocated to Georgia from the Shah Deniz field this year is 508.7 million m³, while optional gas amounts to 505.96 million m³. It means that the volume of gas to be received from the South Caucasus Corridor will be 126 million m³ more than in 2020 (888.6 million m³).