Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 18
By Maksim Tsurkov - Trend:
The work on construction of the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) is successfully underway, the head of SOCAR (State Oil Company of Azerbaijan) Rovnag Abdullayev told reporters Sept.18.
He went on to add that pipes along a 1,350 kilometer section of the gas pipeline have already been delivered to the construction site.
"It was only yesterday when I received information that 400 kilometers of pipes were handed over to TANAP by the manufacturer, and they were delivered to the construction site," Abdullayev said. "Welding work for several lots has already started."
The work runs on schedule and even ahead of it, the head of SOCAR said.
Three Turkish companies, Fernas Insaat A.S., Sicim-Yuksel-Akkord Adi Ortakligi and Tekfen Insaat ve Tesisat A.S. are the contractors for construction of TANAP's onshore part, which is to be 1,337 kilometers long. They will construct the gas pipeline's section running up to the Turkish city of Eskisehir.
TANAP envisages the transportation of gas of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field from the Georgian-Turkish border to the western borders of Turkey. TANAP's initial capacity is expected to reach 16 billion cubic meters of gas per year. Around six billion cubic meters of this gas will be delivered to Turkey and the rest of the volume to Europe.
Turkey will receive gas in 2018, and after the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) is constructed the gas will be delivered to Europe in early 2020.
BP and the TANAP consortium signed March 13 a shareholder agreement, according to which, BP will become one of the shareholders of TANAP. The agreement is one of the main documents for BP's ownership of a stake in the TANAP project.
Following the completion of a legal implementation procedure, TANAP's shareholders list will be as follows: SOCAR - 58 percent, Botas - 30 percent and BP - 12 percent.
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