Baku, Azerbaijan, June 5
By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:
The year 2018 will be the most important in the history of Turkish energy, since the country will receive gas via TANAP that year. After the completion of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) construction, gas will go to Europe around early 2020.
The Azerbaijani project is being successfully implemented, and a number of countries, including Iraq and Iran, has already expressed their interest in joining this project.
However, after this statement, the Director of the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) for International Relations Azizullah Ramazani said in an interview with Russian media that after removal of the sanctions, Iran could use the Turkish Stream gas pipeline that will be built by Russia.
No matter what interest Iran shows in the Turkish Stream, this statement is not based on anything.
The fact is that it is not profitable financially for Iran to join the Turkish Stream. Above all, this is due to the route of the Turkish Stream itself.
No matter how much the Iranian side is talking about its interest in the Turkish Stream project, Tehran won't be able to bypass TANAP, all the more so, as distinct from the Russian project the Azerbaijani project is already being implemented.
Moreover, in order to involve Iran in the Turkish Stream project, there will be a need to create infrastructure at least in 13 provinces of Turkey through which the TANAP project will run.
This suggests that Iran, as well as Iraq, which aim to transport natural gas to Europe, will have to join TANAP anyway. This is the main advantage of TANAP over the Turkish Stream project that currently has no permission for construction on Turkey's territory.
Earlier, Turkish Ministry of Environment and Urban Planning told Trend that Russian Gazprom hasn't appealed to them for an environmental impact assessment of the Turkish Stream project.
No project can be implemented in Turkey without this assessment.
Edited by CN
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Rufiz Hafizoglu is the head of Trend Agency's Arabic news service, follow him on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
