French think-tank: Southern Gas Corridor opens up opportunities for many countries

A senior French researcher has said that the Southern Gas Corridor opens up great opportunities for countries where this pipeline does not pass through.

Francis Perrin, the senior researcher at the Policy Centre for the New South (PCNS, Rabat) and the French Institute for International and Strategic Affairs (IRIS, Paris), made the remarks in an interview with Trend on October 17.

"With the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, the European Union began searching for new sources of natural gas, as 27 member states decided to get rid of Russian gas in the medium term. In recent months, the EU has concluded three agreements with gas exporting countries - one with the United States (the largest gas-producing country in the world and a key exporter of liquefied natural gas - LNG), another with Egypt and Israel (Eastern Mediterranean) and the third with Azerbaijan. Italy has signed a gas agreement with Algeria, Germany will import LNG from Abu Dhabi, and France is negotiating with Algeria on additional gas supplies," he said.

Perrin noted that the United States would export more LNG, as will Egypt and Israel, and Azerbaijan will increase its exports through the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC), which connects the country with the EU through Georgia and Türkiye.

"The goal is to double the capacity of the SGC to 20 billion cubic meters per year by 2027. This is an important goal since the EU decided to stop importing Russian gas in the spring by about 2027. Azerbaijani gas supplies to the EU are already trending upward. In 2021, they reached 8.1 billion cubic meters, and in 2022 they should reach 12 billion cubic meters," the expert added.

Perrin noted various options for connecting to the European part of the SGC – the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP).

"TAP can also be used in reverse mode, which means that Italy, under certain circumstances, can send gas to Southeastern Europe. And in the long term, it will be possible to transport hydrogen through TAP. Thus, the SGC is a strategic energy project for the EU in the short, medium and long term," he added.