Azerbaijan, Baku, March 29 / Trend A.Badalova /
Turkey may increase its stake in Azerbaijan-Turkish Trans-Anatolian pipeline project (TANAP), which will transport Azerbaijani gas from the eastern border of Turkey to the country's western border, Turkish Energy Ministry Undersecretary Metin Kilci told Reuters.
At present, Turkish state-owned energy company BOTAS has 20-percent stake in TANAP, while the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) holds 80 percent in the project.
Azerbaijan and Turkey have already signed a memorandum of understanding to establish the consortium that will build TANAP for gas supply from Shah Deniz gas field to Europe through Turkey. The initial capacity of the pipeline is expected to hit 16 billion cubic meters per year. Some 6 billion cubic meters of the volume will be allocated to Turkey, while the rest will be transported to Europe.
According to Kilci, an intergovernmental agreement on TANAP between Azerbaijan and Turkey may be signed by late April. The cost of the project will be $5 billion-$7 billion.
Kilci also said the construction of the pipeline is expected to start in late 2013 or early 2014.
According to Kilci, Turkey will continue to support Nabucco gas pipeline project, designed to transport gas from the Caspian region and Middle East to the European countries and in which BOTAS is one of the six shareholders.
"We will continue being a part of the Nabucco project and there is no decline in our support for it," Kilci said.