Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept.17
By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:
Some 120 projects to be implemented in the oil sector underwent environmental examination in the Ministry of Environment and Urban Planning of Turkey during the year (August 2013 to August 2014), the Ministry stated on Sept.17.
The statement says notes that the projects which passed the examination do not pose a threat to the environment.
TANAP gas pipeline project is also among the projects that passed environmental examination, and its implementation was approved by the Turkish ministry.
The law allowing carrying out oil exploration in the forests and national parks entered into force in Turkey in April 2014. This law also allows for oil and gas pipelining on the territory of forests and national parks.
In addition, the territory of Turkey will be subdivided to 18 regions on hydrocarbon reserves in accordance with the law.
The Act also provides that one-eighth of the oil produced in Turkey will be considered as an integral property of the state.
The adopted law aims to foster the search and exploration of oil in Turkey.
TANAP project envisages transporting gas from the Shah Deniz field through Turkey up to the country's border with Europe.
The pipeline's initial capacity is expected to be 16 billion cubic meters per year. About six billion cubic meters of gas will be delivered to Turkey and the rest to Europe. The pipeline's capacity can be further expanded to 31 billion cubic meters of gas per year.
TANAP shareholders plan to lay the pipeline's foundation in 2014 and commission it in 2018. TANAP project's cost is estimated at $10 billion to $11 billion.