Turkey Says Work to Begin Soon on Azerbaijan-Turkey Natural Gas Pipeline

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the registration process has started for the planned Azerbaijan-Turkey Trans Anatolian gas pipeline (TANAP). "If we manage to complete this process, we will be able to lay the foundation of the pipeline by late 2014," Erdogan said in a televised statement with Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev in Baku.

"We do not worry about this issue. Our main goal is for bulldozers to begin working soon and [the] TANAP route to be laid in a short term. Of course, all this is described in the form of project and plans. But as soon as the pipe laying process starts, the whole world will be observing it," Erdogan said.

Ilham Aliyev said that Turkey and Azerbaijan are the founders and leaders of the TANAP project. "We will try to implement this project in a timely manner. In any case, everything is on schedule according to the provided information. I hope that we'll celebrate the opening of this project in 2018," he said.

The TANAP project, which is set to ship gas to Turkey from Azerbaijan, 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 the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP). TANAP shareholders plan to lay the pipeline's foundation in the second quarter of 2014 and to commission it in 2018. The TANAP project cost is estimated at $10 billion to $11 billion. For additional information, see November 20, 2013, article - TANAP to Begin Construction in Early 2014, Turkish PM Says.

Currently, Turkey holds 20% of the TANAP project and Azerbaijan holds 80%. BP (NYSE:BP) (London, England) plans to acquire a 12% stake in the project. SOCAR, the operator company, will hold 68%, and BOTAS will hold 20%.

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