Baku, Azerbaijan March 3
By Maksim Tsurkov - Trend:
Freezing of the Turkish Stream project, lobbied by Russia, increases the significance of the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) project, Saltuk Duzyol, CEO of TANAP consortium, said in an exclusive interview with Trend March 3.
Turkey's Petroleum Pipeline Corporation (BOTAS) expects to receive the first volumes of Azerbaijani gas to be produced as part of the Stage-2 of development of Shah Deniz field via TANAP in 2018.
Duzyol noted that the initial capacity of TANAP will be 16 billion cubic meters of gas per year, of which six billion cubic meters will be supplied to Turkey, while 10 billion cubic meters will be delivered to the EU countries.
TANAP's capacity can increase to 31 billion cubic meters of gas per year as a result of constructing additional compressor stations.
The CEO said that if needed, Turkey can also increase the purchase of Azerbaijani gas via TANAP to 21 billion cubic meters.
Duzyol sees no obstacles for transportation of gas from Turkmenistan and Iran via the pipeline running through Turkey's territory.
It will be possible by constructing adjacent infrastructure and signing relevant agreements, according to the TANAP CEO.
Duzyol added that the considerable decline in oil prices on world markets and the corresponding indexation of gas prices won't affect the cost of TANAP project.
"The decrease in oil prices led to lower prices for goods and services and increased the competition among suppliers. As a result, the project's cost will be less," he said.
TANAP project envisages transportation of gas of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field from Georgian-Turkish border to the western borders of Turkey.
Turkey will get gas in 2018 and after completing the construction of Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), it will be delivered to Europe in early 2020.
The shareholders of TANAP are: the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) - 58 percent, BOTAS - 30 percent and BP - 12 percent.
Edited by SI
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