Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb.12
By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:
The Turkish Stream pipeline is not a competitor to the Trans-Anatolian Gas Pipeline (TANAP), the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of Turkey Taner Yildiz said after the first meeting of the Advisory Council of the Southern Gas Corridor, which was held in Baku Feb.12, the TV channel TRT Haber reported.
He said that Ankara's discussing the Turkish Stream project does not mean that Turkey is looking for an alternative for TANAP project.
"TANAP project is one of the priority projects for Turkey," said Yildiz.
Alexei Miller, the head of the Russian gas company Gazprom said on Feb.8 that the land section of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline has been defined and mapped for further research and design.
Later, the Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Taner Yildiz said that it is too early to talk about the final route of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline.
The minister said the gas pipeline is planned to run through the vicinity of the town of Kiyikoy in Turkey's northwest Tekirdag province, adding that however, it is not the final decision.
The Turkish minister said that there are natural objects and infrastructure on the route of the pipeline that was previously defined by Russian Gazprom company.
The preparation of the right-of-way for the Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline project (TANAP) was completed in Turkey on Feb. 2.
A right-of-way is a strip of land over which the pipeline will be laid.
The preparation of the right-of-way for the TANAP project was to be completed on March 15, however, as a result of speeding up the relevant work, it was finalized ahead of the schedule.
The TANAP project envisages the transportation of gas of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field from the Georgian-Turkish border to the western borders of Turkey. TANAP's initial capacity is expected to reach 16 billion cubic meters of gas per year.
Around six billion cubic meters of this gas will be delivered to Turkey and the rest of the volume to Europe. Turkey will obtain gas in 2018. The gas will be supplied to Europe in early 2020 after the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) is constructed. The project's cost is estimated at $10-$11 billion.
Contracts for the supply of pipes for the construction of TANAP were signed in Turkey's Ankara city on Oct.14 with six Turkish and one Chinese company.
Turkey's Mannesmann-Noksel-Erciyas and Umran-Emek consortiums, and Toscelik Profil ve Sac Endustrisi, as well as the Chinese contractor Baosteel Europe won the tender for the supply of pipes for the TANAP project.
All the companies that will participate in the construction and supply of the TANAP project in Turkey are exempt from the VAT.
Edited by CN
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