As the report said, Serbia’s mining and energy minister, Aleksandar Antic, noted that the Serbian government would try to be part of all projects that may provide new gas supply sources and routes.

Natural Gas Europe quoted Minister Antic as saying that, the first priority is the connection of Serbia and Bulgaria by a two-way pipeline.

The minister said there had already been talks with the Bulgarian partners about the pipeline’s capacity and that Serbia could quickly enter a stage when it would seek sources for funding the start of construction.

“The interconnection with Bulgaria could give Serbia access to gas supplies from Azerbaijan via the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP), the construction of which began in March,” said Natural Gas Europe. “Serbia started considering gas supply alternatives after Russia abandoned the South Stream pipeline project, which for the Serbian officials opened a number of questions about future gas supply.”

The report also cited Antic as saying, “We must no longer be enamored of any energy project or rely on just one supply source. That will be the Serbian government policy.”

He added that the government will favor projects enabling Serbia to become a transit country for fuel supply.

The Southern Gas Corridor will allow Europe to diversify its hydrocarbon supply sources and strengthen energy security and also will allow Azerbaijan to obtain a new market in Europe.

On December 17, 2013, a final investment decision was made on the Stage 2 of the Shah Deniz offshore gas and condensate field’s development. The gas produced at this field will first go to the European market (10 billion cubic meters). Around six billion cubic meters will be annually supplied to Turkey.

The contract for development of the Shah Deniz offshore field was signed on June 4, 1996. The field’s reserve is estimated at 1.2 trillion cubic meters of gas and 240 million metric tons of condensate.

As part of the Stage 2 of the field’s development, gas will be exported to Turkey and European markets by expanding the South Caucasus Pipeline and the construction of TANAP and Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP).

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