Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug.3
By Orkhan Guluzade – Trend:
Aside from the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP), there are no other energy projects which are expected to be implemented in a short time in Turkey, the scientific adviser for 21st Century Turkey Institute, energy expert Tugce Varol told Trend Aug.3.
The reason is that the increasing terrorist attacks and latest developments in Turkey affected Ankara’s plans on becoming the region’s energy hub, added the expert.
Varol noted that TANAP project corresponds to the interests of Turkey and the.
TANAP project, worth $9.2 billion, envisages transportation of gas of Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz field from Georgian-Turkish border to the western borders of Turkey. The gas will be delivered to Turkey in 2018, and after completion of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline’s (TAP) construction, the gas will be delivered to Europe in early 2020.
TANAP shareholders are Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR (58 percent), BOTAS (30 percent), and BP (12 percent).
Commenting on the possibility of resuming the talks on constructing the Turkish Stream gas pipeline at the meeting of Russian and Turkish presidents in St. Petersburg Aug.9, Varol noted that despite the discussions, this Russian project is illusory for Turkey.
Turkish Stream project was frozen in November 2015 due to the deterioration of Moscow-Ankara relations after the incident with Russian SU-24 bomber.
The expert believes that the construction of the Turkish Stream pipeline is unlikely to be resumed, since there are not only political, but also economic obstacles to the project’s implementation.
“After freezing of the Turkish Stream, Russia signed agreements with European companies on construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline,” said Varol. “The construction periods and capacities of the Nord Stream 2 and Turkish Stream nearly coincide. Russia has no sufficient natural gas reserve for both pipelines.”
Nord Stream runs under the Baltic Sea and connects Vyborg, in Russia, with Greifswald, in Germany.
The expert said that using the Turkish Stream only for gas supply to Turkey would be unprofitable for such a huge project.