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A complex gas pipeline infrastructure will be created in Europe and a number of countries will be provided with Azerbaijani gas following the implementation of the Southern Gas Corridor project, said Natig Aliyev, Azerbaijani energy minister.

The minister made the statement at the Caspian Oil & Gas Conference in Baku June 2. The conference kicked off on June 1.

The minister added that the implementation of the project envisages the creation of the technically complex infrastructure of gas pipelines in South-East Europe.

"The Ionian-Adriatic Pipeline (IAP), through which the Azerbaijani gas will be supplied to Montenegro, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, is planned to be constructed," the minister said. "The Hungary-Romania Gas Interconnector with a capacity of up to six billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas, which will be also connected to the Southern Gas Corridor, is also planned to be built."

"The Slovak-Hungarian Gas Interconnector with a capacity of five bcm a year has been already built," the minister said. "In general, over 30,000 jobs will be created after the implementation of the project."

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

At the initial stage, the gas to be produced as part of the Stage 2 of development of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field is considered as the main source for the Southern Gas Corridor projects. Other sources can also connect to this project at a later stage.

As part of the Stage 2 of the Shah Deniz development, the gas will be exported to Turkey and European markets by expanding the South Caucasus Pipeline and the construction of Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline and Trans-Adriatic Pipeline.

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