Baku, Azerbaijan, May 30
By Sabina Ahmadova - Trend:
The TANAP project will create long-term and strong relations with the European countries similar to the relationship between Turkey and Azerbaijan, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.
He made the remarks while speaking at the ceremony of signing a number of contracts on the TANAP and Shah Deniz-2 projects in Turkey's Istanbul city on May 30.
"We are witnessing an important step in the implementation of the TANAP project. We assess this project not only in terms of development of trade and investment cooperation.
The implementation of the project for constructing the Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline will allow to create long-term and strong relations with the European countries similar to the relationship between Turkey and Azerbaijan," the prime minister said.
The prime minister underscored that around six billion cubic meters of the gas to be produced under the Shah Deniz-2 project, will be sold to Turkey.
"It is planned to transport some 10 billion cubic meters of gas to Europe through Turkey via TANAP. And in the next stage, the natural gas produced from other fields of the Caspian Sea, will also be transported via this pipeline," Erdogan stressed.
The 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 the second quarter of 2014 and commission it in 2018. TANAP project's cost is estimated at $10 billion to $11 billion.
On December 17, 2013, a final investment decision was made on the Stage 2 of the 'Shah Deniz' offshore gas and condensate field's development. The gas produced at this field will first go to the European market.
The gas to be produced as part of the Stage 2 of the field's development will be exported to Turkey (six billion cubic meters per year) and to the European markets (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).
Partners operating for Shah Deniz field's development, which has reserves of 1.2 trillion cubic meters of gas, include SOCAR with a share of 16.7 percent, British BP (28.8 percent), Norwegian Statoil (15.5 percent), Iranian NICO (10 percent), French Total (10 percent), Russian Lukoil (10 percent) and Turkish TPAO (nine percent).
Turkiye Petrolleri Anonim Ortaklıgı (TPAO) and 'Total Azerbaijan' companies signed a contract on May 30 in Istanbul on the purchase and sale of Total's 10 percent share in the project of development of Azerbaijan's 'Shah Deniz' offshore gas and condensate field. Under the contract, the TPAO's share in this project increased to 19 percent.
Moreover, SOCAR and Turkey's state-owned Botas Pipeline Company have signed a contract for the sale of SOCAR's 10 percent share in the TANAP project. The purchase and sale contract was signed on May 30 in Istanbul.
After completing the deals with BP and Botas, SOCAR's share in the TANAP project will be equal to 58 percent. And the shares of BP and Botas will be 12 percent and 30 percent, respectively.