Baku, Azerbaijan, June 13
Trend:
The transportation of Azerbaijani gas directly to European markets will strengthen Turkey's geostrategic position and will allow it to be an important energy hub, Rovnag Abdullayev, president of Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR and Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) chairman, said at the TANAP opening ceremony in Turkey’s Eskisehir.
He emphasized that TANAP will further strengthen the historic friendship and brotherhood between Turkey and Azerbaijan.
"We always rely on Turkey and Turkey's economy,” he noted, adding that TANAP was inaugurated on June 12 as an indicator of the two countries’ friendship and cooperation which backs up this trust.
“TANAP will further accelerate economic development of both countries and will contribute to their energy security,” he said. “On this occasion, I would like to extend my special gratitude to the government officials of Turkey and Azerbaijan, and all of our colleagues who were working for this project.”
TANAP, together with Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), is a part of the Southern Gas Corridor, which provides for the transportation of gas from the Azerbaijani field Shah Deniz to Europe.
The initial capacity of TANAP is expected to be 16 billion cubic meters of gas per year. About six billion cubic meters will be supplied to Turkey, and the rest to Europe. After completion of the TAP, the gas will reach Europe in early 2020.
The share distribution in TANAP is as follows: Southern Gas Corridor CJSC - 51 percent, SOCAR Turkey Enerji - 7 percent, Botas - 30 percent, and BP - 12 percent.
The launching ceremony of the first stage of the Southern Gas Corridor project was held in Baku on May 29.
The gas from the Azerbaijani Shah Deniz field has already gone through the first segment of the Southern Gas Corridor - from the Sangachal terminal to the expanded South Caucasus Pipeline.
The Southern Gas Corridor, which costs more than $40 billion, is one of the priority projects for the EU and provides for the transportation of 10 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas from the Caspian region through Georgia and Turkey to Europe.