Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr.10
By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:
It is too early to talk about Turkey's selling part of its share in the Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline project (TANAP), Efgan Niftiyev, expert at Turkish Caspian Strategy Institute told Trend Apr.10.
In connection with the expected lifting of sanctions imposed on Tehran, the Azerbaijani and Turkish sides earlier made similar statements saying that Iran can obtain a share in TANAP project, said the expert.
Niftiyev added that TANAP is a profitable project, therefore a number of countries show interest in it.
However, he said currently, no changes are expected in the list of shareholders of the TANAP project.
"All agreements on gas sale and investment issues have already been signed within the TANAP project," Niftiyev added.
A source at TANAP consortium told Trend Apr.10 that Turkey's selling its share in TANAP is not currently considered and not even discussed.
Turkey's position with respect to the project remains unchanged, according to the source.
TANAP project envisages the transportation of gas of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field from the Georgian-Turkish border to the western borders of Turkey.
TANAP's initial capacity is expected to reach 16 billion cubic meters of gas per year. Around six billion cubic meters of this gas will be delivered to Turkey and the rest of the volume to Europe.
Turkey will obtain gas in 2018. The gas will be supplied to Europe in early 2020 after the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) is constructed.
BP and the TANAP consortium signed March 13 a shareholder agreement, according to which BP will become one of the shareholders of TANAP. The agreement is one of the main documents for BP's ownership of a stake in the TANAP project.
Following the completion of a legal implementation procedure, TANAP's shareholders list will be as follows: SOCAR - 58 percent, Botas - 30 percent and BP - 12 percent.
The project's cost is estimated at $10-$11 billion.
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