Azernews.Az

By Leman Mammadova

Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) is almost ready the supply natural gas from Azerbaijan to Europe.

TANAP Consortium expects annual revenue of $1.45 billion from the pipeline’s operation, Saltuk Duzyol, Head of the Consortium has said.

Duzyol noted that the pipeline would reach its full capacity for transporting 16 billion cubic meters of gas per year for 2-3 years, according to forecasts.

In his words, when operating at full capacity, TANAP will bring revenues at $1.45 billion annually, of which 30 percent or $450 million will account for Turkish company BOTAS.

“In addition, a tax of $5.95 per 1,000 cubic meters will be paid to Turkey for gas transportation via TANAP,” he said.

Duzyol stressed that since the TANAP’s commissioning in 2018 2.39 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas were delivered through until late August 2019. “At the same time, tax deductions to the state budget of Turkey amounted to about $14.3 million.”

“We have obligations to BOTAS for the supply of 4 billion cubic meters from this pipeline from June 2019 to June 2020,” he pointed out.

Duzyol emphasized that the TANAP gas pipeline could also be used to transport gas from the Eastern Mediterranean and Northern Iraq.

“As you know, since July 1, 2019, TANAP is in full readiness for Azerbaijani gas supplies to Europe. We look forward to the completion of the TAP to begin deliveries,” Duzyol said.

“The start of commercial gas supplies to Europe is not possible before October 2020, but we are able to supply gas now,” he added.

He recalled that the actual costs of the TANAP gas pipeline construction project amounted to $6.5 billion against the initial estimate of $11.7 billion.

TANAP, along with TAP, is a part of Southern Gas Corridor project that envisages transportation of gas from Azerbaijani Shah Deniz-2 gas field to European markets. The first gas transportation to Turkey started on June 30, 2018.

Last year, 916.4 million cubic meters of gas were transported via the TANAP gas pipeline. In general, the total gas supply via TANAP has exceeded 1.8 billion cubic meters since commissioning.

Gas supplies via TANAP provided for 2019 should reach the amount of 3 billion cubic meters, but the annual volume of supplies will be 6 billion cubic meters from 2020. SOCAR forecasts that TANAP gas pipeline will meet 12 percent of Turkey’s gas needs.

TANAP, with a total length of 850 kilometers, is designed to carry 16 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually. 6 billion cubic meters of the amount will be used to meet Turkey's demands, while the remaining 10 billion cubic meters will be sent to Europe.

The share distribution of TANAP shareholders is as follows: Southern Gas Corridor CJSC - 51 percent, SOCAR Turkey Enerji - 7 percent, BOTAS - 30 percent, BP - 12 percent.

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Leman Mammadova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @leman_888

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