Southern Gas Corridor project defies sceptics
Azeri gas will be flowing into Europe via a new route by the summer
When the first gas flows through the Turkish stage of the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) pipeline network this July, Europe will have made a symbolic and important step towards its goal of loosening its dependence on Russian gas. The amount of gas involved is relatively small—just 10bn cubic meters sourced from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz II field, compared to the 194bn cm of Russian gas that went Europe's way in 2017. At one point in its gestation there were plans to pump up to 60bn cm of gas through the SGC—an amount that really would have shaken up market shares in Europe. Nevertheless, the SGC has a strategic value to Europe that outweighs the volumes involved. EU officials say the SGC is as mu
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