Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec.12
By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:
Joint projects that are currently being implemented by Azerbaijan and Turkey, will make contribution to the strategic partnership between the two countries, Tarsushaber newspaper quoted President of SOCAR Turkey Enerji, Kenan Yavuz as saying on Dec.11.
SOCAR Turkey Enerji is a Turkish division of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR).
He added that the Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline (TANAP) is among these projects.
Touching upon the negotiations on the construction of a new gas pipeline with Russia, Yavuz said that these negotiations prove that Turkey is turning into an energy hub.
Russian Deputy Minister of Energy Kirill Molodtsov said December 11 that the design of the underwater section of the gas pipeline from Russia to Turkey may take a year or a year and a half.
During the negotiations in Turkey on Dec.1, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that under the current conditions, as well as due to the unconstructive position of the EU, Russia can't continue the implementation of the South Stream project. Later, CEO of Russia's Gazprom's Alexey Miller said that the South Stream project has been shut down.
Gazprom and Turkey's BOTAS state pipeline company signed a memorandum of understanding on Dec.1 on construction of an offshore gas pipeline across the Black Sea towards Turkey with the annual capacity of 63 billion cubic meters of gas per year.
Under this agreement, it is planned to supply 14 billion cubic meters of gas to Turkey and the remaining part - nearly 50 billion cubic meters of gas - to the Turkish-Greek border.
Russia is the main supplier of natural gas to Turkey. Around 26.7 billion cubic meters of gas was supplied to Turkey from Russia in 2013 and it is planned to increase this figure to 30 billion cubic meters in 2014.
On Nov.19, Turkey and Algeria signed a new contract for the period of ten years on supply of gas from Algeria. Turkey also has contracts with Azerbaijan, Iran and Nigeria on the purchase of natural gas.