Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 20
By Rufiz Hafizoglu – Trend:
Azerbaijan, Turkey and Iran intend to expand energy cooperation, said Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu at a press conference following the 5th trilateral meeting of the foreign ministers of Iran, Azerbaijan, and Turkey in Baku on Dec. 20.
Cavusoglu said that Azerbaijan and Iran are important countries for Turkey in terms of energy cooperation.
Turkey imports natural gas from Iran and intends to increase the volume of purchases, he noted.
Currently, Turkey is the biggest gas customer of Iran and imports 30 million cubic meters per day from its eastern neighbor.
One of the most important energy projects – construction project of the Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) – is currently being implemented between Turkey and Azerbaijan, said Cavusoglu.
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 natural 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.
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