Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

Azerbaijan's state oil fund SOFAZ will soon start financing Azerbaijan's share in the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) project.

The news was announced by Executive Director of the fund Shahmar Movsumov at the third Caspian Forum in Istanbul on December 5.

"The Oil Fund has financed a part of the state's share in the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline project, and also began to invest in the construction of Star oil refinery in Turkey this year. We will continue to invest in major infrastructure projects in Turkey in the future," Movsumov said.

SOFAZ has directed 800 million manats (about $1.02 billion) to the implementation of the TANAP construction project.

The TANAP project, jointly developed by Azerbaijan's SOCAR, Turkish state pipeline company Botas, and energy company TPAO, will deliver Shah Deniz gas to the Turkish-Greek border from eastern Turkey.

The initial capacity of the pipeline will be 16 billion cubic meters of gas a year. TANAP will be connected to the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) on the Turkish-Greek border.

Head of SOCAR Turkey Enerji Kenan Yavuz also made remarks regarding the TANAP project.

Speaking at a press conference in the Caspian Forum, he said SOCAR has yet to hold negotiations with new companies on participating in the TANAP project.

SOCAR's partners on the project for the development of the Shah Deniz gas condensate field presented their preliminary plans regarding acquisition of a share in the TANAP project.

The preliminary data shows that the partners intend to distribute 29 percent of TANAP as follows: 24 percent divided equally between Statoil and BP, and five percent for Total.

A total of $8-10 billion will be invested in the implementation of the project, Yavuz said.

He went on to say the opportunity to increase the pipeline's capacity is important, as the pipeline can also be used by other producers in the future.

"There can be no question of competition, as the market is large and the demand for gas is high," Yavuz said.

SOCAR plans to launch TANAP in 2018.

SOFAZ, an entity that accumulates and manages Azerbaijan's oil and gas revenues, was established in 1999 with $271 million in assets. The main purpose of the fund is the accumulating funds and assets placement abroad in order to minimize any negative impact on the economy, preventing the "Dutch disease", ensuring savings for future generations, and maintaining the current social and economic standards in the country.

According to SOFAZ's investment strategy, up to five percent of the fund's total investment portfolio may be invested in stock, up to five percent in real estate, and another five percent in gold.