Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 19
By Maksim Tsurkov – Trend:
The construction of the Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) has been completed by more than 80 percent, Khoshbakht Yusifzade, first vice-president of Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR, said in an article published in the country’s Respublika newspaper.
Delivering the first gas from Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz field to Turkey via TANAP in June 2018 is quite real, according to him.
Yusifzade noted that intensive work is also underway to build the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP).
“First gas supplies from Azerbaijan to Europe via TAP are scheduled for 2019,” he said.
TANAP project envisages transportation of gas from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field to the western borders of Turkey. 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.
The length of TANAP is 1,850 kilometers with an initial capacity of 16 billion cubic meters of gas. Around six billion cubic meters of this gas is meant to be delivered to Turkey, with the remaining volume to be supplied to Europe.
The project’s total cost is estimated at $8.6 billion.
TAP is a part of the Southern Gas Corridor, which is one of the priority energy projects for the European Union. The project envisages transportation of gas from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz Stage 2 to the EU countries.
The pipeline will connect to TANAP on the Turkish-Greek border, run through Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea, before coming ashore in Italy’s south.
TAP will be 878 kilometers in length (Greece 550 kilometers, Albania 215 kilometers, Adriatic Sea 105 kilometers, and Italy 8 kilometers).
TAP’s shareholding is comprised of BP (20 percent), SOCAR (20 percent), Snam S.p.A. (20 percent), Fluxys (19 percent), Enagás (16 percent) and Axpo (5 percent).