Turkey has expressed an interest in purchasing 21 billion cubic meters of gas that Azerbaijan plans to produce in the second phase of development of its huge offshore Shah Deniz gas field, Turkish Energy Minister Hilmi Guler said.
According to Turkish media reports, Turkey wants to purchase the gas for domestic consumption and to transit it to Greece and Italy.
Turkey and Azerbaijan held talks last week to discuss the possibility of supplying Azerbaijani gas to Turkey as well as Turkey`s transit of that gas to Greece and elsewhere in Europe.
Azerbaijan expects gas production in the first phase of development to reach 9.6 bcm by the fourth quarter of 2008, Azerbaijani reports said.
Azerbaijan did not expect to start developing the second phase of Shah Deniz until 2012, but with Europe interested in Azerbaijani gas as a source of non-Russian supplies, Azerbaijan may be able to expedite development.
by Andrea Mihailescu
