Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb. 13 / Trend, A. Akhundov /
The consortium for the development of the Azerbaijani Shah Deniz gas condensate field is in talks with the project of Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) regarding the signing of an agreement on gas transportation, a senior official of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) told Trend.
"Signing an agreement on the transfer of rights and assets is also noted under the TANAP project," senior official said.
He said there are many such agreements, and they will be gradually signed.
The TANAP project envisages gas transportation from the Shah Deniz field to Europe via Turkey. The initial capacity of the pipeline is expected to reach 16 billion cubic meters per year. Around 6 billion cubic meters will be delivered to Turkey, and the rest - to Europe.
Presently, a 20 percent share in TANAP belongs to Turkish BOTAS and TPAO, while 80 percent is owned by SOCAR. SOCAR intends to retain 51 percent of the equity in the project. The rest of the State Oil Company's share will be distributed between the foreign partners of the Shah Deniz project.
Currently, a consortium for the development of Shah Deniz is considering two options for gas transportation to Europe - Nabucco West and the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP). The final decision will be made in June 2013.
Referring to the AGRI (Azerbaijan-Georgia-Romania Interconnector) project, a SOCAR representative said that the project is of current interest, but its relevance decreased.
"We have a different solution to the issue surrounding construction of an LNG terminal in Georgia," senior SOCAR representative said.
AGRI envisages transporting Azerbaijani gas via pipelines to the Black Sea coast of Georgia, where gas will be liquefied at a special terminal. The gas will then be delivered to a terminal at the Romanian port of Constanta via tankers. Later the liquefied gas will be turned into regular natural gas and directed towards covering the needs of Romania and other European countries.