Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec.12
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
The construction work as part of the Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline Project (TANAP) is 55 percent complete, Saltuk Duzyol, head of TANAP consortium, told reporters.
He pointed out that to date, 19 underground passages have been built as part of the project, Sabah newspaper reported Dec.12.
Furthermore, the consortium head noted that the cost of TANAP project has decreased.
“When designing the construction of Trans Anatolian pipeline, its cost was estimated at $11.7 billion. Its cost dropped below $10 billion as a result of changes on the market,” he added.
Earlier, Trend reported that the total cost of TANAP is estimated at $8.6 billion.
The first gas via TANAP will be delivered to Turkey’s BOTAS company in June 2018 and to the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) on the border with Greece in June 2019, according to Duzyol.
He pointed out that the implementation of TANAP project will make it possible to create around 10,000 jobs in Turkey.
Earlier, Turkey’s Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Berat Albayrak said that it is planned to complete 55 percent of the construction work on TANAP by late 2016.
TANAP project envisages transportation of gas from Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz field to the western borders of Turkey. The length of TANAP is 1,800 kilometers with the initial capacity of 16 billion cubic meters.
Around six billion cubic meters of this gas will be delivered to Turkey and the remaining volume will be supplied to Europe.
The gas will be delivered to Turkey in 2018, and after completion of the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline’s construction, the gas will be delivered to Europe in early 2020.
TANAP shareholders are Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR (58 percent), BOTAS (30 percent) and BP (12 percent).