The gas producers’ consortium at Shah Deniz in Azerbaijan has selected the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline project (TAP, Greece-Albania-Italy, led by Norwegian Statoil) to deliver Azerbaijani gas to Europe. This decision eliminates the Nabucco-West pipeline project (Bulgaria-Romania-Hungary-Austria) from consideration. The decision was communicated to the two rival... MORE

The Center for Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SAM) and Germany’s Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) hosted a conference this month in Baku on “Cooperation in the Caspian Region: National Perspectives and Common Challenges.” In his conference keynote speech, SAM director... MORE

On June 21, Greece’s State Assets Development Fund announced that Azerbaijan’s State Oil Company (SOCAR) has won the tender to acquire control of Greek DESFA’s (Public Gas Transmission System Operator) pipelines. The Asset Fund’s board of directors expressed its unanimous satisfaction with the terms of... MORE

The Nabucco Committee’s meeting (see accompanying article) on May 21 in Bucharest has provided perhaps the final opportunity for comprehensively assessing the Nabucco-West project’s comparative advantages as a route for Azerbaijani gas to Europe. Prior even to the Committee meeting, the Nabucco participant governments had... MORE

On May 29, in Baku, addressing the final session of the Azerbaijani-American Forum’s “Vision for the future,” former United States Senator Richard Lugar underscored that the Nabucco-West gas pipeline project could considerably ameliorate the energy security of vulnerable countries in Central and Southeastern Europe, including... MORE

On April 21–24, Azerbaijani Minister of Foreign Affairs Elmar Mammadyarov visited Israel. This was the first visit of a high-ranking official of Azerbaijan to this country since Baku became independent. During his trip, Mammadyarov held several meetings with the Israeli leadership, including President Shimon Peres,... MORE

The governments of transit countries in the Nabucco-West project—Austria, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria—have appealed to the European Union’s top executive authorities to support the selection of this pipeline route by the Shah Deniz gas producers in Azerbaijan.The producers’ consortium intends to select either the Nabucco-West... MORE

The launch of a Talysh-language radio station based in the Armenian-occupied territories but directed at the members of that ethnic minority elsewhere in Azerbaijan is part of the latest chapter in the long and dangerous history of efforts by Azerbaijan’s three neighbors—Armenia, Iran and the... MORE

On March 17, the Iranian navy launched a new Jamaran-2 destroyer in the Caspian Sea. The Iranian establishment, including President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi and Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces Hassan Firuzabadi, attended the ceremony. This destroyer was developed and... MORE

The gas producers’ consortium at Shah Deniz in Azerbaijan is holding parallel negotiations with the pipeline project companies, Nabucco and Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), to select one of these routes to Europe. March 31 is the deadline for submission of Nabucco-West’s and TAP’s competing offers to... MORE