US remains committed to supporting Southern Gas Corridor

The US remains committed to supporting new routes, including the Southern Gas Corridor, Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) and IGB (Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria), that promote diversification for Europe's energy security, said US Secretary of State John Kerry's message read out by Amos Hochstein, the US Department of State special envoy and coordinator for international energy affairs.

Hochstein read the message during the TAP groundbreaking ceremony in Thessaloniki, Greece on May 17.

Kerry said in a message that TAP is the last essential piece of the Southern Gas Corridor, and today's ceremony is an important event.

He further said that the Southern Gas Corridor by providing 10 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas per annual will provide new hope and opportunity for Europe in terms of diversification.

He also stressed that it is important to move forward not only with the Southern Gas Corridor, but also other interconnections, such as IGB.

The message also said that despite the US is not a country along the routing of the Southern Gas Corridor, it will continue to provide the support for the project.

TAP, which is the part of the Southern Gas Corridor project, envisages transportation of gas from the Stage 2 of development of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz gas and condensate field to the EU countries.

The 870-kilometer TAP will be connected to the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) on the Turkish-Greek border, run through Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea, before coming ashore in Italy's south.

TAP's shareholding is comprised of BP (20 percent), SOCAR (20 percent), Snam S.p.A. (20 percent), Fluxys (19 percent), Enagás (16 percent) and Axpo (5 percent).