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By Trend

The US Department of State positively assesses the signing of the Convention on the Status of the Caspian Sea last year and urges Turkmenistan to take advantage of the agreements reached by the Caspian states to join the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC), which will give this country positive impetus for development, Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Energy Diplomacy of the Department of State Bureau of Energy Resources Sandra Oudkirk told RIA Novosti on the sidelines of the Caspian Forum, Trendreports.

"We believe that the agreement on the status of the Caspian Sea is a positive step forward. We think that the export corridor with Turkmenistan is worth building. Turkmenistan exports gas to China, it has potential and it would be great if the country is connected to Europe through Azerbaijan or other countries," she said.

She added that this will bring additional competition to the market.

"We would like Turkmenistan to be able to realize all the possible options. Turkmenistan must decide on this. As I noted earlier, Turkmenistan depends on one consumer, but its economy can get more active support," she said.

The Southern Gas Corridor project envisages the creation of a pipeline infrastructure for the transportation of Azerbaijani gas, which is extracted as part of the development of the Shah Deniz Stage 2 field, to Europe via Turkey.

The main components of the project are Shah Deniz Stage 2, expansion of the South Caucasus pipeline Baku-Georgia-border with Turkey, construction of the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) from Turkey’s eastern border to the western border and the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) connecting Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea in southern Italy.

Supplies of Azerbaijani gas to Europe are expected in the amount of 10 billion cubic meters in early 2020. In addition, 6 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas will be supplied to the western regions of Turkey. Deliveries to Turkey began in the summer of 2018.

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