Richard Morningstar: A failure to find an agreement between Turkey and Azerbaijan, would lead energy companies to search for alternative routes
Richard Morningstar, U.S. special envoy for Eurasian energy, said the southern corridor and Nabucco project passing through Turkey are of great importance for Europe’s energy security and diversification of the energy resources, APA reports quoting Turkish news agencies.
21:47 / 19.11.2009 Addressing the meeting at Brussels-based think-tank, European Policy Center, Morningstar called Turkey and Azerbaijan to reach an agreement over gas and transportation prices through a west-bound pipeline that would carry natural gas to Europe, saying the two countries would otherwise risk forcing energy companies to look for alternative routes. He said the issue on what sources would supply Nabucco with gas was still being discussed.
“It is obvious that the first gas will come from Azerbaijan. A question arises: Why do Turkey and Azerbaijan fail to reach an agreement on the gas and its transit price? We strongly encourage Turkey and Azerbaijan to agree on pricing terms because the agreement is needed to win the trust of the participating companies in the Nabucco Pipeline project. We think they will reach an agreement, but they are moving slowly. I think these two countries should understand that this agreement meets their strategic interests,” he said.
“A failure to find an agreement would lead energy companies to search for different routes. This alternative may be transportation of liquid gas and pressure gas from the Black Sea to Europe through the White Stream. All the alternatives should be worked on. Due to this, Turkey will become a very strong transit country in transporting the gas of the Caucasus and Central Asia to Europe,” Richard Morningstar said.
Morningstar said Turkmenistan and Iraq could join in as other suppliers besides Azerbaijan but he indicated that the U.S. was against Iran’s participation in the Nabucco project.Bu yazı ( 298 ) - dəfə oxunmuşdur
