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All work on Southern Gas Corridor on schedule - SOCAR

Economy Materials 7 July 2015 20:59 (UTC +04:00)
SOCAR spokesman Nizamaddin Guliyev gave an interview to Trend news agency concerning the implementation of the Southern Gas Corridor project.
All work on Southern Gas Corridor on schedule - SOCAR

Baku, Azerbaijan, July 7

Trend:

SOCAR spokesman Nizamaddin Guliyev gave an interview to Trend news agency concerning the implementation of the Southern Gas Corridor project.

At what stage is the implementation of the Southern Gas Corridor projects?

We are constantly monitoring the processes within the projects and getting the reports on the conducted work. We would like to stress that we are pleased with the course of the projects. The work is carried out in accordance with the schedules. In some cases, the work is conducted ahead of the schedule.

Once again, we can say with confidence that as planned, the first gas produced as part of the full-scale development of the Shah Deniz field will be supplied to Turkey in July 2018. The European consumers will receive gas in 2020. In other words, both the extension of the South Caucasus gas pipeline and the Trans-Anatolian pipeline (TANAP) will be commissioned in July 2018. Accordingly, the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) will be ready by early 2020, respectively.

There is information, based on SOCAR's own data, that TANAP will be ready only by 2021...

I think that this is just a misinterpretation of the information. Indeed, the company's financial report-2014 was published. It says that according to the treaty on the transportation of gas, signed between the Azerbaijan Gas Supply Company - a company selling gas on behalf of the Shah Deniz consortium and TANAP, the gas supply will be launched from July 1, 2019 and July 1, 2021. It is wrong to conclude that TANAP will be ready by 2019, because the volumes intended for European buyers of gas are the case here. This gas will be transported by the seller, i.e. AGSC, to the points specified in the relevant sales contracts.

In addition, the contract of gas sale with our Turkish partner, the BOTAScompany has been signed as well. This contract is also mentioned in that very financial report. Under the contract, the deliveries of gas to Turkey will begin in July 2018, and the acquirer company itself will transport gas from the Georgian-Turkish border to the exit point, located near the Turkish city of Eskisehir, precisely via TANAP, which is fixed in the respective contracts. This will be possible only given the ready pipeline. In other words, TANAP should be commissioned by July 2018, as it was planned.

We see no need to accelerate the construction of TANAP, even if Russia's Gazprom will build the Turkish Stream till late 2016. The fact is that all of the 16 billion cubic meters, which will be produced within the framework of the second phase of the Shah Deniz project, has already been agreed upon.

As it was stated earlier, some 6 billion cubic meters of gas of 16 billion cubic meters will go to Turkey, while some 10 billion cubic meters of gas will go to Europe. Moreover, the validity of all contracts is 25 years. In other words, the gas supplied through the chain of the Southern Gas Corridor pipelines is not affected by deliveries of Russian gas through the Turkish Stream.

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