Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 6
By Elena Kosolapova – Trend:
Israel is considering the possibility to transport its gas to Europe via the Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) through Turkey, Israel’s Ambassador to Azerbaijan Dan Stav said in an interview with Trend.
"This is a very interesting option for us," Stav said. "We have to study carefully all the relevant questions – political, economic, economic viability, but it is certainly an option that will be duly considered, because we want this market. Turkey is also a big market, a very important market."
A big discovery of gas and to a lesser extent oil in 2009 and especially 2010 was a kind of gift from Heaven for Israel, the ambassador said.
"Obviously the quantity of gas that probably exists is enormous," he noted. "It is much more that Israel will need. For example, the estimation for the gas fields that have been explored is between 750 bcm and 900 bcm. Israel’s gas consumption today stands at 8.5 bcm and in 2030 consumption might grow to 18 bcm."
"You see that there is a huge gap between our demand and the size of the gas storage," he said. "What we want is to export it. We are lucky in the sense that there is a big market not far away from us – the EU. Now there is a question how to export it. There are all kind of options discussed."
There are discussions on possibility of joining of Israeli gas to TANAP, Stav added.
The ambassador reminded that Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz visited Ankara in October and discussed this issue with Turkey’s Energy Minister Berat Albayrak.
"We are trying to consider how to do it," Stav said. "Such projects take years. There are a lot of technical issues, and other issues - where to lay the pipeline, who will buy the gas, whether it will go to Turkey and through the TANAP to Europe. Many questions are yet to be decided. Only then the decision will be endorsed. There are a number of options, so we have to calculate which one is the most preferred."
"We follow with great interest developments regarding TANAP and TAP," the ambassador noted. "We understand the importance of these projects to Azerbaijan and other countries – Turkey and Europe."
Stav went on to add that Israel’s political relations with Turkey are improving, while Israel’s relations with Azerbaijan are excellent.
"It is certainly an important aspect in our relations with both Azerbaijan and Turkey," he said.
At the same time, the ambassador reminded that among the other options for transportation of Israel’s gas to Europe, the country is considering the possibility of LNG supplies through Egypt, as well as via pipeline through Cyprus to Greece.
TANAP project envisages transportation of gas from Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz field to the western borders of Turkey. The length of TANAP is 1,800 kilometers with the initial capacity of 16 billion cubic meters.
Around six billion cubic meters of this gas will be delivered to Turkey and the remaining volume will be supplied to Europe.
The gas will be delivered to Turkey in 2018, and after completion of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline’s 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).
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