Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept.10
By Emil Ismayilov - Trend:
Transanatolian gas pipeline project (TANAP) will reach the maximum design capacity of 31 billion cubic meters a year by 2026, the first vice-president of SOCAR (State Oil Company of Azerbaijan) Khoshbakht Yusifzade said at the Caspian shelf international conference in Baku Sept. 10.
TANAP project envisages transporting gas from the Shah Deniz field through Turkey up to the country's border with Europe.
The pipeline's initial capacity is expected to be 16 billion cubic meters per year. The pipeline's capacity can be further expanded up to 23 billion cubic meters of gas by 2023.
TANAP pipeline is planned to be put into operation in 2018. TANAP project's cost is estimated at $10 billion to $11 billion.
SOCAR and Turkey's state-owned Botas Pipeline Company have signed a contract for the sale of SOCAR's 10 percent share in the TANAP project.
After completing the deals with BP and Botas, SOCAR's share in the TANAP project will be equal to 58 percent. And the shares of BP and Botas will be 12 percent and 30 percent, respectively.
On December 17, 2013, a final investment decision was made on the Stage 2 of the 'Shah Deniz' offshore gas and condensate field's development. The gas produced at this field will first go to the European market.
Partners operating for Shah Deniz field's development, which has reserves of 1.2 trillion cubic meters of gas, include SOCAR with a share of 16.7 percent, British BP (28.8 percent), Norwegian Statoil (15.5 percent), Iranian NICO (10 percent), French Total (10 percent), Russian Lukoil (10 percent) and Turkish TPAO (9 percent).
Gas will be exported to Turkey and the European markets within the second stage of field development by expansion of the South Caucasus gas pipeline and the construction of the Trans and Trans-Adriatic pipeline.
Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) is planned to be commissioned in 2019, Yusifzade said.
TAP project aims to transport gas from the Caspian region via Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea to southern Italy and farther in Western Europe. The total length of the pipeline is about 870 kilometers.
The initial capacity of the pipeline will be 10 billion cubic meters per year, but it can easily be expanded to 20 billion cubic meters per year.
TAP's shareholding is comprised of BP (20 percent), SOCAR (20 percent), Statoil (20 percent), Fluxys (16 percent), Total (10 percent), E.ON (9 percent) and Axpo (5 percent).
Azerbaijan with proven gas reserves of 2.3 trillion cubic meters will begin deliveries of fuel to Europe with the help of the planned Trans Adriatic Pipeline. Azerbaijani gas will be delivered to Turkey by Transanatolic pipeline and then by TAP, which will start on the Turkish-Greek border. The gas will be delivered to TANAP via the current 700-kilometer South Caucasus gas pipeline, the capacity of which will be expanded.
The cost of the second stage of Shah Deniz development is estimated at $28 billion.
