Azerbaijan, Baku, Aug. 27 / Trend A. Taghiyeva /
The cheapest and stable gas supplies to Turkey come from Azerbaijan, SOCAR Turkey Energy head and board member of the Petkim petrochemical complex Kenan Yavuz said in an interview with the Turkish edition of Para Dergisi today.
"At present, one cubic meter of gas from Iran costs Turkey $500," he said. "Gas from Russia is cheaper than Iranian by 30 per cent, while Azerbaijani gas by 40 per cent."
He added that after the TANAP project (Transanatolia gas pipeline) is implemented, Turkey will receive six billion cubic meters of gas from Azerbaijan. If necessary, the importation of gas from Azerbaijan to Turkey will be increased.
At present, Turkey receives gas from the Azerbaijani gas condensate field 'Shah Deniz' through the South Caucasus gas pipeline (Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum). According to the contract, Turkey must receive 6.6 billion cubic meters of gas within the first stage of the field development. Turkey will receive six more billion cubic meters of gas from the second stage.
Previously the cost of gas for Turkey was $120 per 1000 cubic meters. However later, the price of Azerbaijani gas also increased after the cost of fuel rose on the world market.
Total reserves of 'Shah Deniz' field are estimated at 1.2 trillion cubic meters of gas.
The contract to develop the offshore Shah Deniz field was signed on June 4, 1996. Participants to the agreement are: BP (operator) - 25.5 per cent, Statoil - 25.5 per cent, NICO - 10 per cent, Total - 10 per cent, LukAgip - 10 per cent, TPAO - nine per cent and SOCAR-10 per cent.