SOCAR Vice President Elshad Nasilov was speaking in southern Turkey, near the Syrian border, as Turkey and Azerbaijan began exporting natural gas to Syria. The launch was marked at a ceremony in Kiris city, with pastors and other officials from Azerbaijan, Turkey, Syria and Qatar.
Azerbaijani Economic Minister Mikaille Javalov said the project followed an agreement between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Syrian transitional ruler Ahmad Jolani in April and July.
Javalov said the gas will be transported to Syria through Turkish territory under a coordinated arrangement.
“By starting to export gas to Syria, Azerbaijan has demonstrated that it can export gas to the west, east and south,” he said at the event.
Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said delivery is expected to reach around 6 million BCM per day, and could supply up to 2 billion BCM per year in the first phase.
The gas will be used to restart Syrian power plants and is a total capacity of 1,200 megawatts, Bayraktar said.
MNA/