Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct.28
By Emil Ismayilov - Trend:
Procedure of law registration of the transaction with BP for the acquisition of 12 percent stake in the project of Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline (TANAP) will be completed before the end of 2014, the head of investment department of SOCAR (State Oil Company of Azerbaijan) Vagif Aliyev said Oct.27 in Baku during the XIII Conference on investments and regulation of energy of the Energy Regulators Regional Association (ERRA).
He said that currently 70 percent of equity participation in the TANAP project is legally owned by SOCAR, and 30 percent by Turkish Botas.
"Until the end of the year, equity participation in the project will be distributed as follows: SOCAR - 58 percent, Botas - 30 percent and BP - 12 percent," said Aliyev.
The contract for the construction work will be signed in the near future, and the contract for the supply and construction of compressor stations will be signed later, he said. Work on the laying of pipes will start at the beginning of April 2015. Aliyev said that the supply of gas to Turkey by the pipeline will begin in mid-2018, and to Europe at the end of 2019.
"Gas from other fields in Azerbaijan, in particular from the Absheron field, gas from which is expected to be produced in 2020 is also being considered as the source of gas for TANAP, along with the Shah Deniz field," said Aliyev. "Also, the possibility of joining the project by the Middle East and Mediterranean sources of supply is not excluded."
The TANAP project envisages gas transportation from the Shah Deniz field to Europe via Turkey.
The initial capacity is expected to reach 16 billion cubic meters per year. Around six billion cubic meters will be delivered to Turkey and the rest to Europe. In future the pipeline may be expanded up to 31 billion cubic meters a year.
Plans are to commission the TANAP pipeline in 2018. The project cost is estimated at $10 billion-$11 billion.
Contracts for the supply of pipes for the construction of TANAP were signed in Turkey's Ankara city on Oct.14. Under the project for construction of the Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline (TANAP), contracts were signed with six Turkish and one Chinese company.
Turkey's Mannesmann-Noksel-Erciyas and Umran-Emek consortiums, Toscelik Profil ve Sac Endustrisi as well as a Chinese contractor Baosteel Europe won the tender for the supply of pipes for the TANAP project.