By the OGJ Online Staff
WASHINGTON, DC, Mar. 13�The US government Monday praised an agreement that would allow Turkey to buy gas from Azerbaijan�s Shah Deniz field.
The US State Department said the agreement �further strengths the East-West Caspian transportation corridor that includes the emerging Aktau-Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, the Baku-Supsa pipeline, the Baku-Novorosysk pipeline, and the Caspian Pipeline Consortium pipeline.
The US has supported a gas export pipeline parallel to the planned oil pipeline as an alternative to proposals to export gas through pipelines crossing Iran.
Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Azerbaijani President Haidar Aliyev signed the 15-year contract for 233 billion cu ft/year of gas, beginning in 2004. The line is likely to supply cities in Azerbaijan and Georgia as well as those in Turkey.
The State Department said, �The US has long supported such commercially viable export routes for Caspian basin hydrocarbons. These projects enhance the political, economic, and commercial cooperation among the states of the region and strengthen our energy security.�