Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb. 22 / Trend M. Aliyev /
The Azerbaijani parliament and Turkey have ratified an agreement on the transit of Azerbaijani gas through its territory and construction of an independent pipeline.
In particular, the country's parliament at its regular meeting has today ratified a memorandum of understanding on the transit of natural gas from Azerbaijan through Turkey between the Azerbaijani and Turkish governments and construction of an independent gas pipeline (Trans-Anatolian Gas Pipeline) to ensure gas transit through the Turkish Republic.
Deputy Parliamentary Speaker Valeh Alasgarov said the memorandum is one of the documents included in the package of agreements which will be gradually adopted.
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 six billion cubic meters will be delivered to Turkey, with the rest to Europe.
Presently, a 20 per cent share in TANAP belongs to Turkish BOTAS and TPAO, while 80 per cent is owned by SOCAR.
SOCAR intends to retain 51 per cent of the equity in the project. The rest of the State Oil Company's share will be distributed between the 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.