As of December, $25 billion have been spent for the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) project, Khoshbakht Yusifzade, first vice-president of Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR, according to Trend News.

He made the remarks at a conference titled “At the intersection of East and West: New energy and communication opportunities”, organized by the ruling New Azerbaijan Party (YAP) in Baku.

Yusifzade said it is needed to spend about $44-45 billion for the project’s implementation.

“We have already done a great job in this direction. The Trans-Anatolian pipeline [TANAP, a major part of the Southern Gas Corridor] will be ready in 2018, and the Trans-Adriatic pipeline [TAP, also a part of the Southern Gas Corridor] will be ready in 2019,” he said.

“Azerbaijan will provide Europe with gas via these pipelines. Questions arise sometimes that do we have enough gas to provide Europe? The country’s proven gas reserves total 2.6 trillion cubic meters, and according to unconfirmed reports, gas reserves reach six trillion cubic meters,” added Yusifzade.

Iran and Russia may also join the Southern Gas Corridor, according to him.

The Southern Gas Corridor is one of the priority energy projects for the EU. It envisages the transportation of gas from the Caspian region to the European countries through Georgia and Turkey.

The gas to be produced as part of the Stage 2 of development of Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz field is considered as the main source for the Southern Gas Corridor projects. Other sources can also connect to this project at a later stage.

As part of the Stage 2 of the Shah Deniz development, the gas will be exported to Turkey and European markets by expanding the South Caucasus Pipeline and the construction of Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline and Trans Adriatic Pipeline.