Baku, Azerbaijan, May 20
By Orkhan Guluzade - Trend:
Azerbaijani gas that will be supplied via Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) can meet the needs of Star oil refinery in Izmir, said Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
He made the remarks via the live broadcast of the Turkish ATV channel during a meeting with young people while responding to a question of Azerbaijani student.
"Currently, Azerbaijan supplies 6-7 billion cubic meters of gas to Turkey [per year]," said Erdogan. "But Turkey has a large demand for gas, and this figure should be brought up to 20-30 billion cubic meters [per year].
Europe's demand for gas is also high, noted the president.
"TANAP's construction continues apace," said Erdogan adding that with the completion of the pipeline's construction a big part of the gas demand in Turkey will be met.
"I think that the supplies to the Star oil refinery of Azerbaijan's state oil company SOCAR will be provided via TANAP," he added.
TANAP project envisages transportation of gas of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field from Georgian-Turkish border to the western borders of Turkey.
Turkey will get gas in 2018 and after completing the construction of Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), it will be delivered to Europe in early 2020. The project's total cost is estimated at $9.8 billion. Currently, the shareholders of TANAP are: SOCAR - 58 percent, Botas - 30 percent and BP - 12 percent.
Edited by SI
---
Follow the author on Twitter: @o_quluzade