Baku, Azerbaijan, May 16
By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:
The Turkish Stream will not affect the realization of the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) project, the former US ambassador to Azerbaijan, Richard Morningstar said May 16.
He made the remarks in an interview with Turkish Anadolu Agency.
Morningstar said Turkey and Azerbaijan have good relations, and Ankara will not allow the Turkish Stream to compete with TANAP.
The former ambassador also noted that the participation of a number of Turkish companies in TANAP's construction demonstrates the level of bilateral relations between Turkey and Azerbaijan.
"I'll be very surprised if Turkey, implementing the Turkish Stream, will reduce the chances of the TANAP project," he said.
Three companies, Fernas Insaat A.S., Sicim-Yuksel-Akkord Adi Ortakligi and Tekfen Insaat ve Tesisat A.S. are the contractors for construction of TANAP's onshore part, which is to be 1,337 kilometers long. They will construct the gas pipeline's section running up to the Turkish city of Eskisehir.
TANAP envisages the transportation of gas of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field from the Georgian-Turkish border to the western borders of Turkey. TANAP's initial capacity is expected to reach 16 billion cubic meters of gas per year. Around six billion cubic meters of this gas will be delivered to Turkey and the rest of the volume to Europe.
Turkey will obtain gas in 2018, and after the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) is constructed the gas will be delivered to Europe in early 2020.
BP and the TANAP consortium signed March 13 a shareholder agreement, according to which, BP will become one of the shareholders of TANAP. The agreement is one of the main documents for BP's ownership of a stake in the TANAP project.
Following the completion of a legal implementation procedure, TANAP's shareholders list will be as follows: SOCAR - 58 percent, Botas - 30 percent and BP - 12 percent.
Edited by SI
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