TANAP to Begin Construction in Early 2014, Turkish Premier Says

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Turkey, which pays about $60 billion in energy import bills for its dependence natural gas and oil, is trying to define its position as a natural gas pipeline hub. To this end, Turkey signed new energy and trade agreements to strengthen its ties with eastern neighbour Azerbaijan.

"We agreed on cooperation in energy and trade with Azerbaijan," said Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a press conference with Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev in Ankara. "We're planning to perform the groundbreaking ceremony for the Trans Anatolia Pipeline Project (TANAP) in early 2014. The investment in the Eurasia region will make it possible to supply gas to the Balkans. These steps we have taken mean we are able to start talking to the growing countries of the Balkans about Azeri natural gas."

"The TANAP project will change the energy route of Europe soon," Aliyev said.

The TANAP project, which is set to ship Azeri gas to Turkey, will operate with a 16 billion-cubic-meter capacity by 2018. About 6 billion cubic meters will be sold to BOTAS, the state gas importer of Turkey, under a 15-year agreement, and the rest will be delivered to Europe via Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), which recently was selected by the BP-led consortium developing the Shah Deniz field to carry the gas from the Greece-Turkey border to the rest of Europe.

TAP is designed to transport gas from the Caspian region, via Greece and Albania, and across the Adriatic Sea to southern Italy, and then to Western Europe. The initial capacity of the TAP pipeline will be 10 billion cubic meters per year, with the possibility of expanding to 20 billion cubic meters per year. Shah Deniz reserves are estimated at 1.2 trillion cubic meters of gas. The contract to develop the offshore Shah Deniz field was signed on June 4, 1996.

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