Baku, Azerbaijan, March 17
By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:
Turkey's Botas state pipeline company will repurchase lands over the whole route under the construction of the Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline (TANAP), according to a message posted on the website of Turkish Resmi Gazete newspaper.
The TANAP project envisages gas transportation from the Shah Deniz field to Europe via Turkey. The pipeline's initial capacity is expected to reach 16 billion cubic meters per year. Around six billion cubic meters will be delivered to Turkey and the rest to Europe. In future, the pipeline's capacity can be expanded to 31 billion cubic meters of gas per year.
Currently the share distribution in the TANAP project is Turkey (20 percent) and Azerbaijan (80 percent). Following the completion of the process to acquire a stake in the TANAP project by British company BP, shares in the project will be distributed as follows: SOCAR (operator) - 68 percent , Botas (Turkish state pipeline company) - 20 percent and BP - 12 percent.
Turkey is intending to put a part of its stakes in the Trans-Anatolian Gas Pipeline (TANAP) up for privatisation, Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Ministry earlier told Trend.
"The issue of partial privatisation of Turkey's share in TANAP has already been submitted to the Turkish Cabinet of Ministers," the ministry said. "It is expected that this issue will be clarified in the coming weeks."
However the ministry did offer to say what size the share would be for privatization.
TANAP shareholders plan to lay the pipeline's foundation in the second quarter of 2014 and to commission it in 2018. TANAP project cost is estimated at $10 billion to $11 billion.
On December 17, 2013, a final investment decision was made on the second phase of the Azerbaijani Shah Deniz offshore gas and condensate field's development. Gas from the field will go in the first instance to the European marketplace. The gas to be produced within the second phase of the field's development will be exported to Turkey at six billion cubic meters per year and to European markets at 10 billion cubic meters per year by means of expanding the South Caucasus Pipeline and construction of the Trans-Anatolian Gas Pipeline (TANAP) and the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP).
The initial capacity of the TAP pipeline will be 10 billion cubic meters per year with the possibility of expanding to 20 billion cubic meters per year. TAP shareholders are BP (20 percent), SOCAR (20 percent), Statoil (20 percent), Fluxys (16 percent), Total (10 percent), E.ON (nine percent) and Axpo (five percent).
Shah Deniz reserves are estimated at 1.2 trillion cubic meters of gas.
Partners for the development of the Shah Deniz field are: SOCAR with the share of 16.7 percent, British BP (28.8 percent), Norway's Statoil (15.5 percent), Iran's NICO (10 percent), French Total (10 percent), Russia's Lukoil (10 percent) and Turkish TPAO (nine percent).
Translated by L.Z.
Edited by S.M.