According to the head of the Ministry of Energy Natig Aliyev, Azerbaijan has been negotiating with Turkmenistan regarding supply of Turkmenian gas to EU through Southern Gas Corridor.
There are two alternatives: installing the Transcaspian pipeline and connecting producing platforms in the Caspian Sea by offshore pipelines. According to Aliyev, in case of signing a long-term agreement with European customers, Turkmenistan could supply 10-30 bln m3 of gas per year. However, the capacity of Southern corridor should be increased then. (Nowadays rated capacity of Tanap – 31 bln per year, TAP – 20 bln; contracted quantity – 16 and 10 respectively). If the producing platforms are joined, Azerbaijan could supply 5 blnm3 due to the share of the foreign participants in the production sharing agreements with Turkmenistan. However, the Caspian Sea problem is still up in the air.
The vice-president of the European Commission on Energy Maros Sefcovic expressed an interest in development of new oil fields in Uzbekistan. Sefcovic promised to provide a loan from the European Investment Bank. And this despite the fact, that Uzbekistan does not correspond the EU requirements.
In the meanwhile, in North Yorkshire (North England) the Third energy company was finally granted consent (after long delay) by local authorities to produce shale oil by fracturing. The process is already under way.