Turkey will host natural gas for Europe

ANKARA, Turkey, Jan. 23 (UPI) -- Turkey and its partners in the region would benefit from any of the gas transit projects included in the Southern Corridor, including Nabucco, an official said.

Officials from Azerbaijan and Turkey signed a memorandum of understanding last year for construction of the Trans-Anatolia pipeline. That project could deliver around 560 billion cubic feet of natural gas to the eurozone border.

The development comes as Azerbaijan and partners at the BP-led consortium developing the Shah Deniz field in the Caspian Sea examine pipeline projects included in the so-called Southern Corridor.

Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said natural gas from Azerbaijan would flow through Turkey for European consumers within five years, the Azeri Press Agency reports.

"We offered the Trans-Anatolia gas pipeline as alternative for realization of the Shah Deniz -2 project. Azeri gas will be transported to Turkey and Europe in 2017," he said. "But European Union countries also must participate in solution of gas transport safety."

All of principals involved in the Southern Corridor say their projects are the best for Europe. Of those, Nabucco is the most ambitious though its $10 billion price tag and lack of firm supplier commitments is causing some investors to shy away.