The Azerbaijani state-backed oil company SOCAR is scheduled to throw in its casting vote on how to market the gas from the country`s mammoth BP-operated trillion cubic meter Shah Deniz II offshore gas field by the end of the year.
The pipeline - the central aim of which is to dramatically remove Europe`s reliance on Russian Federation for the supply and transit of natural gas - is heavily back by the European Union, though it`s success is contingent on finding a combination of suppliers willing to commit to supplying Europe for the long term.
The main challenge is the size of the proposed pipeline.
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