Baku, Azerbaijan, June 24
By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:
Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline (TANAP), which will facilitate the transportation of Azerbaijani gas to Europe, has gained great importance, president of SOCAR Turkey Enerji (SOCAR's Turkish office) Kenan Yavuz said, Turkish newspaper Star reported on June 24.
"Turkey is a key country for the gas transportation from the Caspian Sea to the European markets," he added.
Azerbaijani Energy Minister Natig Aliyev and his Turkish counterpart Taner Yildiz signed an agreement to increase Turkey's share in TANAP project to 30 percent in Istanbul on May 30.
Azerbaijan's State Oil Company (SOCAR) sold 10 percent out of its 80 percent share to the Turkish state-owned BOTAS pipeline company. Following the completion of deals with BP and BOTAS, the shares of SOCAR in TANAP will stand at 58 percent.
The shares of BP and BOTAS will respectively amount to 12 and 30 percent.
TANAP 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 Q2, 2014 and commission it in 2018.
TANAP'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 within 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 (9 percent).