Azernews.Az

By Gulgiz Dadashova

The Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline or TANAP is of great importance for ensuring Europe's energy security.

Speaking at the World Energy Forum in Istanbul on Friday, Turkish President Abdullah Gul reaffirmed the importance of TANAP saying that the project, which will be implemented in the next few years is extremely important for the energy security of the European Union.

The TANAP project envisages construction of a pipeline from the eastern border of Turkey to the country's western border to supply gas from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field in the Caspian Sea to Europe through Turkey. Initial capacity of the pipeline is expected to be 16 billion cubic meters per year. Around 6 billion cubic meters will be delivered to Turkey, while the rest will be transported to Europe.

Gul informed the participants that the pipeline will transport gas from the Shah Deniz field at the initial stage and later from other fields in Azerbaijan.

"In addition, work is underway for the supply of Turkmen gas through this pipeline," Gul said.

Presently, a 20 percent share in TANAP is held by Turkish BOTAS and TPAO, while 80 percent is owned by Azerbaijan's state energy firm SOCAR. SOCAR intends to retain 51 percent of equity in the project, while Turkey will keep its 20 percent.

SOCAR partners on the Shah Deniz gas field development project already presented their preliminary intentions to acquire a stake in the TANAP project. According to the preliminary data, the partners intend to distribute a 29 per cent share in TANAP as follows: Statoil and BP are to receive 12 per cent each and Total would get five per cent.

Head of SOCAR Turkey Enerji, Kenan Yavuz, said earlier the project's cost will increase anywhere between $3-10 billion due to changes in the final route of TANAP.

Yavuz said that despite increase in the cost, implementing the project is crucial for Turkey as it will lead to more affordable gas prices.