US official says Caspian oil producers may face "serious" competition from Iraq

The change of the situation in Iraq will not affect the implementation of energy projects in the Caspian region, the US Secretary of State for Caspian issues, Steven Mann, has said. These are long-term projects, and the American companies have invested billions of US dollars in them, he said on Wednesday. At the same time, he did not rule out that Iraq may become a serious competitor for the Caspian states. In his view, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan will obviously have to create better conditions for investors. Speaking of the proposal to transport Azerbaijani gas by the Blue Stream pipeline, the adviser said Azerbaijan should not give up its own gas export system by using routes monopolized by others. Referring to Turkish officials, Mann said Ankara is interested in building the South Caucasus gas pipeline from Baku to Erzurum via Tbilisi because the gas transported by it will be cheaper than that delivered by other pipelines. Azerbaijan is expected to begin exporting gas to Turkey in the second half of 2006.