Baku, January 4, AZERTAC  Al Arabiya TV Channel has broadcast a program highlighting Azerbaijan’s first direct gas deliveries to Europe from the Shah Deniz field in the Caspian Sea.The program, citing the statement by the Shah Deniz consortium led by British oil giant BP, said: “Gas from the field had arrived via the newly completed Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) pipeline system. Deliveries to Europe through the Trans Adriatic Pipeline, marks the full integration of the entire SGC gas value chain, stretching 3,500 kilometers from Azerbaijan to Europe.”The program featured the statement by the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) saying, “for the first time in history, Azerbaijan’s natural gas reached the European market through a direct pipeline connection”. According to the company, the country’s gas has already arrived in Italy.The program also highlighted remarks by SOCAR’s President Rovnag Abdullayev and head of BP in Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey Gary Jones on this remarkable event. “The first phase to connect the field with Europe began in 1999, at a time when some were skeptical about the project. Now the mission is accomplished. Azerbaijan’s natural gas has arrived in Europe,” Rovnag Abdullayev said. Gary Jones described Thursday’s announcement as a “historic milestone”, calling the new route a “direct, safe and reliable energy link”.