Yesterday, Azerbaijan’s Industry and Energy Ministry and Turkey’s Energy and Natural Resources Ministry signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) concerning the construction of the Trans Anadolu Gas Pipeline (TANAP).
The MoU was signed by Azerbaijan’s Industry and Energy minister Natig Aliyev and Turkey’s Energy and Natural Resources minister Taner Yildiz.
It was noted that following from the wide ranging inter-governmental gas transit agreement signed by the two countries on October 25, existing transportation system will be used or a new alternative pipeline will be constructed for transportation of Azerbaijani gas through Turkey.
Signing of the MoU on the construction of the Trans Anadolu Gas Pipeline creates favorable conditions for preliminary works for construction of the pipeline and establishment of the joint consortium.
Under the MoU, State Oil Company of the Azerbaijani Republic (SOCAR), the state-owned Turkish Pipeline Corporation (BOTAŞ) and its oil company TPAO become the first members of the pipeline consortium.
The instrument states that third-party international oil and natural gas companies would be allowed to join the consortium later during the construction process.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Azerbaijan’s Industry and Energy minister Natig Aliyev said TANAP Memorandum opens a new era in oil and gas sector between the two countries.
As he noted, presently, Azerbaijani natural gas is successfully transported to Turkey via the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum pipeline, whereas its oil flows via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline.
He pointed out that future pipelines will contribute to the development of economic relations between Turkey and Azerbaijan.
In turn, Turkey’s Energy and Natural Resources minister Taner Yildiz estimated the signed memorandum as the next success in the energy diplomacy of the two countries.
During the briefing, the ministers spoke about estimating works on transportation of Azerbaijani gas to the European countries, as well as Nabucco and other export routes.
It was mentioned that TANAP project envisages transportation of Azerbaijani gas produced from Shah Daniz II field to Europe passing through Georgia and Turkey.
Within the development of Shah Daniz-2 project, 16 bcm of gas will be transported to Turkey, 6 bcm of which will be provided for domestic demand of Turkey and the rest 10 bcm will be exported to Europe.
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LNG World News Staff, December 27, 2011