By  Trend

Balkan countries may connect to the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC), Azerbaijan’s Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov said at a press conference following the fifth ministerial meeting of the SGC Advisory Council in Baku, Trend reports Feb. 20.

The minister also noted that Turkmenistan has been participating in SGC meetings for the second year, and this indicates the interest of the country in joining the SGC project.

However, as it is known, there should be certain agreement between the gas supplier countries and gas consumer countries, he said.

If such an agreement is signed, the SGC will consider this issue, Shahbazov added.

The 5th Ministerial Meeting of the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) Advisory Council was held Feb. 20 at the Heydar Aliyev Center in Baku.

The participants in the event included energy ministers from the Southern Gas Corridor member-states and representatives of a number of organizations, as well as European Commissioner for Budget and Human Resources, acting co-chair of SGC Advisory Council Gunther Oettinger.

The Southern Gas Corridor is one of the priority projects for the EU and envisages the transportation of 10 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas from the Caspian region through Georgia and Turkey to Europe.

The launching ceremony of the first stage of the Southern Gas Corridor was held in Baku on May 29, 2018, while opening ceremony of TANAP was held on June 12, 2018 in the Turkish city of Eskisehir.

The gas from the Azerbaijani Shah Deniz field has already gone through the first segment of the Southern Gas Corridor - from the Sangachal terminal to the expanded South Caucasus Pipeline.

Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) and Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) have been recently connected on the Turkish-Greek border.