“The European Commission is also endeavouring to expand the Southern Gas Corridor to access the vast gas resources of the Central Asian countries, including potentially Iran,” the source said.
The Southern Gas Corridor is one of the priority energy projects for the EU. 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.
On Jan. 16, the US and the EU announced that they lifted their nuclear-related sanctions against Iran. The removal of the sanctions allows Iranian oil and gas enter the global markets.
BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2015 shows that Iran possesses the world’s largest proven natural gas reserves, at 34 trillion cubic meters - or 18.2 percent of the world’s total proven reserves.
Despite having the world’s biggest gas reserves it only shared 5 percent of global natural gas production, at 172.6 billion cubic meters in 2014 (excluding recycled and flared gas), according to the report.
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