The Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) project will speed up economic development of Turkey and Azerbaijan and will contribute to gas supply security for Turkey and Europe, SOCAR President and TANAP Chairman said Tuesday during TANAP's launch ceremony in Eskisehir.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, and President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Mustafa Akinci attended the official launch of the historical natural gas pipeline project in Seyitgazi, Eskisehir, where the facilities housing the MS-2 Metering Station and CS-5 Compressor Station are located.
'TANAP will accelerate the economic development of both Turkey and Azerbaijan further and will contribute greatly toward securing gas supply for Turkey and Europe. Bringing Azerbaijan gas directly to the European markets will strengthen Turkey's geostrategic position, leading the country to becoming an energy center,' Rovnag Abdullayev, Azerbaijan's state energy company president said.
'We have always believed in Turkey and the Turkish economy,' Abdullayev confirmed.
TANAP is a natural gas pipeline stretching from the Turkey-Georgia border to the Turkey-Greece border to supply natural gas both to Turkey and to Europe.
The presidents launched TANAP's Phase 0, which starts from the Turkey-Georgia border and ends in Turkey's Eskisehir province.
The second part of the project - Phase 1 - will start from Eskisehir and run until the Ipsala district of Edirne on the Turkey-Greece border, where TANAP will be connected to the entry point of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) - the pipeline that will bring Azeri gas to European markets.
Abdullayev said that TANAP would “further strengthen the historical bonds and brotherhood between Turkey and Azerbaijan, which are built on mutual friendship, trust and cooperation.”
The 1,850-kilometer-long TANAP is the largest section of the 3,500-kilometer-long Southern Gas Corridor, which was officially inaugurated on May 29 during a ceremony held in Baku with the participation of Azerbaijan's president.
TANAP, with around $8 billion of investment, will deliver 6 billion cubic meters of Azeri gas to Turkey and 10 billion cubic meters to Europe per year. The European part of the project is expected to become operational in 2020.
The estimated investment cost was $11.7 billion at the start of the project, but this figure has been revised down to $8 billion based on updates from project managers.
Currently, the Southern Gas Corridor Company holds a 51 percent share in the pipeline, Turkey's BOTAS has a 30 percent interest, BP holds 12 percent and SOCAR Turkey has the remaining 7 percent.
The 878 kilometer-long cross-border natural gas pipeline, TAP, will follow TANAP. The pipeline is currently under construction, stretching from the Greek/Turkish border crossing Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea to Italy.
By Huseyin Erdogan, Murat Temizer
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr