Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov. 20 / Trend A.Badalova /
The ratification of the agreement on the Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline system (TANAP) by Azerbaijani Parliament is a vital step to open the Southern Gas Corridor, Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH spokesman, Christian Dolezal told Trend on Tuesday.
"This is a vital step to open the Southern gas corridor. Nabucco is fully transparent to TANAP and opened its database to enable a swift cooperation," Dolezal wrote Trend via e-mail.
The Azerbaijani parliament has ratified an agreement on the construction of a separate gas pipeline to transport gas to Turkey through its territory, as well as an agreement on TANAP between the Azerbaijani and Turkish governments on Tuesday.
TANAP project envisages construction of the pipeline from the eastern border of Turkey to the country's western border to supply gas from Azerbaijani Shah Deniz gas field to Europe through Turkey.
On June, 26 Azerbaijan and Turkey signed an intergovernmental agreement on TANAP implementation.
At present, a 20 per cent share in TANAP belongs to Turkish BOTAS, 80 per cent and the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR). The initial capacity of the pipeline is expected to reach 16 billion cubic meters a year. About six billion cubic meters will be delivered to Turkey, and the rest - to Europe.
Nabucco West is a short-cut version of Nabucco project, which envisages construction of the pipeline from the Turkish-Bulgarian border to Austria.
The project's current shareholders are Bulgarian Energy Holding, Romanian Transgaz, Turkish Botas, Austrian OMV, German RWE and Hungary's FGSZ, and each of them holds 16.67-percent share.
In June the consortium of Azerbaijani Shah Deniz gas field development chose Nabucco West as the single pipeline option for the potential export of Shah Deniz Stage 2 gas to Central Europe.
Currently, the Shah Deniz consortium considers two options to deliver its gas to Europe - Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) and Nabucco West. The final decision on a pipeline route will be made in 2013.