“Joining Caucasus to the World: Railways and Pipelines” held in Washington
Baku, April 3 (AZERTAC). An event entitled “Joining Caucasus to the World: Railways and Pipelines” was held with the support of the Kennan Institute of the Woodrow Wilson International Center and the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security in Washington. Azerbaijan's role in regional and global energy projects and its increasing role in Europe's energy security were in focus of a key conference in the United States.
The conference brought together Kennan Institute Acting Director William Pomerantz and a Senior Research Fellow at the Heritage Foundation, Ariel Cohen.
Addressing the event, Cohen spoke about the history of the energy sector in Azerbaijan and the country's role in this field.
The expert stressed the importance of the Caspian region's energy resources in ensuring the energy security of Europe.
Jonathan Elkind, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Department of Energy, also spoke about the history of energy projects in the region, as well as the importance of the Southern Gas Corridor.
The Southern Gas Corridor is one of the EU's priority energy projects aimed at diversifying the routes and sources of energy supply, thereby increasing secure delivery. Gas which will be produced during the second stage of the Azerbaijani Shah Deniz field development is considered as the main source for the Southern Gas Corridor projects.
Nargiz Gurbanova spoke about the transformation of Azerbaijan into a regional transit hub, and highlighted the increasing relevance of Azerbaijan's role in the withdrawal of NATO troops from Afghanistan.
Gurbanova informed the participants about investments made in the country's infrastructure, large-scale projects and the simplification of customs procedures.
The event highlighted the importance of regional and global projects such as the international port in Alat settlement near the Azerbaijani capital Baku, Heydar Aliyev International Airport in Baku and Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway project.
Azerbaijan's permanent representative to NATO, Khazar Ibrahim, said the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars project will link Europe and Asia.
The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway is being built on the basis of the Georgian-Azerbaijani-Turkish agreement. Peak capacity of the corridor will be 17 million tons of cargo. Initially, the figure will be at the level of one million passengers and 6.5 million tons of cargo.
Ibrahim also noted that there is a unique opportunity to resolve conflicts in the South Caucasus, thus making it a peaceful and developing region as a whole.
In turn, Senior Director for International Affairs at BP, Greg Saunders, spoke about the importance of the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline project (TANAP).
Saunders stressed the crucial role of Azerbaijani gas supplies in ensuring the energy needs of Europe.
The TANAP project envisages construction of a pipeline from the eastern border of Turkey to the country's western border to supply gas from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field in the Caspian Sea to European markets through Turkey. Initial capacity of the pipeline is expected to be 16 billion cubic meters per year.
The participants stressed that such a position primarily damages the country itself.
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