New publication in RGSL Research Papers series by RGSL Alumni Vafa Muradli "The Legal and Economic Framework of Natural Gas Supply: the Role of Shah Deniz Stage 2".
The paper deals with the issue of ensuring secure supplies of natural gas in the European Union (EU) with a special focus on the Shah Deniz Stage 2 development project and the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) projects. The ongoing actuality of the topic is dictated by such factors as the EU’s high consumption and import levels caused by its decreasing domestic production and the changing political preferences taking place from time to time deriving from tensions with Russia. Emerging as a continuous background throughout the last decade, gas crises have put the energy security issue on the EU agenda.
The paper considers its core issue from historical and current status perspectives, gives an insight into the legal basis of EU gas supply security, analyses the EU’s relevant legal relations with its main gas suppliers, i.e. Russia, Norway, Algeria, and its future potential export partners from the Caspian region, in particular Azerbaijan. Moreover, the paper dedicates a scrutinized examination to the Shah Deniz Stage 2 development project and the three pipeline projects – the South Caucasus Pipeline (SCPX), the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP), and the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) – all being parts of the SGC, argues in favor of these projects and forecasts their future sustainability.