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BAKU, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Oil major BP has confirmed
plans to start shipping natural gas from Azerbaijan to Europe by
the end of the year, as concerns about the military conflict
over the Nagorno-Karabakh region have heightened.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have been involved in the worst
fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh since a 1991-94 war, prompting
international diplomatic efforts to stop the conflict.
BP is a shareholder in the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP),
part of the Southern Gas Corridor project, designed to export
energy from Azerbaijan's offshore Shah Deniz field to Europe.
It said in a statement the commissioning of TAP and the
interconnecting pipeline built by Snam Rete Gas was expected to
be ready in November.
"(This) will allow the Shah Deniz Consortium to finalise the
final steps required to start the twenty-five years long
supplies of natural gas from Azerbaijan to customers in Italy,
Greece and Bulgaria as planned by the end of 2020," BP said.
The $40 billion Southern Gas Corridor will draw from
Azerbaijan's giant Shah Deniz II field in the Caspian Sea and
has the backing of the European Commission as it seeks to curb
Europe's dependence on Russian energy.
From the fully completed Southern Corridor, Turkey will
receive additional 6 billion cubic metres (bcm) of Azeri gas per
year, while 10 bcm is earmarked for Europe.
(Reporting by Nailia Bagirova, writing by Vladimir Soldatkin;
editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
