Analytical analysis of the current situation and development prospects of the Southern Gas Corridor

Azerbaijan currently plays a key role in reducing Europe’s dependence on Russian gas and in diversification of gas pipeline routes. The predicted capacity of the Azerbaijani natural gas reserves, the volume of actual production, existing infrastructure, political stability, and participation in recent projects have demonstrated the country’s reliability as partner, which has been unequivocally acknowledged. This article presents an analysis of the current operations and prospective development directions of the Southern Gas Corridor, which plays a critical role in delivering natural gas to the European Union. The applied methodology is based on the dynamics of current and potential gas reserves which have the potential to support this energy corridor during its expansion phase with the increased natural gas volumes. Production trends, domestic demand, and export volumes have been analyzed accordingly, and forecasts have been generated based on current data and external sources for the coming years. Based on the conducted research, it was determined that the natural gas supply from existing Azerbaijan crude oil, gas, and gas condensate reserves, along with those located in the Caspian Sea area, as well as the potential transportation of natural gas from Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, may lead to a significant increase in the volume of natural gas exported through the Southern Gas Corridor to Europe which is supported and proved by conducted calculations.