Baku, Azerbaijan, June 13
By Elchin Mehdiyev - Trend:
The Trans-Anatolian pipeline project (TANAP) is a strategic project of Azerbaijan, and its opening is a great event in the history of the country, Member of the Milli Majlis (Parliament) Azay Guliyev told Trend June 13.
TANAP is a very important energy project of Azerbaijan, connecting Europe with Asia, Guliyev said.
He noted that this project is important not only from the economic but also from the political point of view, as well as from the security point of view.
"President Ilham Aliyev, speaking about TANAP, stressed that this project will completely change the energy map of Europe. Indeed, the opening of TANAP, which has a very great potential to provide Europe with alternative energy, is a great historical event, and I am confident that this project will contribute to the further increase of Azerbaijan's prestige in the international arena, strengthening its economic power, as well as to the solution of security-related issues on the agenda. As the head of state said, TANAP is an indispensable infrastructure project to address energy security issues today and in the future," Guliyev said.
On June 12, 2018, a solemn ceremony of launching the TANAP pipeline was held in Turkish Eskisehir City.
The project provides for the transportation of natural gas extracted from the Shah Deniz field in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea to Turkey and Europe.
Being one of the main segments of the Southern Gas Corridor, TANAP crosses 20 provinces of Turkey, stretching to the border of Greece. The Memorandum of understanding on the project was signed between Azerbaijan and Turkey on December 24, 2011, and the agreement on the Trans-Anatolian pipeline - on June 26, 2012.
The initial capacity of the TANAP pipeline is expected to be 16 billion cubic meters of gas per year. About six billion cubic meters will be supplied to Turkey, and the rest - to Europe. After the completion of the TAP the gas will be delivered to Europe approximately in the early 2020.
The share distribution of TANAP shareholders is as follows: Southern Gas Corridor CJSC - 51 percent, SOCAR Turkey Enerji - 7 percent, BOTAS - 30 percent, and BP - 12 percent.