by Elmira Tariverdiyeva, Baku. Exclusively for Vestnik Kavkaza
The Trans-Anatolia Gas Pipeline (TANAP) to be constructed by Azerbaijan and Turkey will become one of the main elements of the Southern Gas Corridor, a project for European energy security. Azerbaijan and Turkey signed an intergovernmental agreement to build TANAP. It will improve partner relations and economic cooperation of Turkey and Azerbaijan, the states with friendly ties.
Azerbaijan and Turkey will contribute to the European energy security of Europe, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, TRT Haber reports.
According to Erdogan, TANAP will allow transit of Azerbaijani gas within the framework of the second stage of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz Field development through Turkey to Europe. Gas will also come from other gas fields of Azerbaijan in the Caspian Sea and will give Turkmenistan an opportunity to transport gas, Erdogan noted.
The project will improve cooperation in South Caucasus, including Azerbaijan, Turkey, Georgia, Turkmenistan and other Caspian states.
Azerbaijan and Turkey signed a memorandum of understanding to form a consortium in December 2011. BOTAS (Turkey) owns 20% in the project, SOCAR (Azerbaijan) owns 80%. The pipeline will have an initial capacity of 16 billion cubic meters of gas annually. 6 billion cubic meters will be provided for Turkey, the rest to Europe.
The decision to build TANAP will speed up the realization of gas pipeline projects of the EU, because TANAP is essential for the export of most of the 50 billion cubic meters Azerbaijan plans to extract annually by 2025. The pipeline will have its capacity increased to 30 billion cubic meters. It will become the basis for gas transport to the Turkish-European border.
SOCAR has a share in the BTE gas pipeline (Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum). Azerbaijan will be able to control about two thirds of energy resources transported to Europe. The Azerbaijani company plans to buy a share in the project which will become the Shah Deniz Consortium in 2013 to transport gas from western Turkey to Europe.
The consortium views three projects: TAP (Trans-Adriatic Pipeline), Nabucco West and SEEP (South-Eastearn European Pipeline). The realization of the plans would give Azerbaijan control over the transport chain from the Caspian Region to EU consumers. SOCAR will control prices for gas exports to Europe and set optimal prices for Azerbaijan. The realization of TANAP makes the realization of Nabucco West a reality. Nabucco welcomes projects providing the best investments and infrastructure for the Nabucco pipeline, a spokesman of Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH told Trend on Wednesday."Signing the deal is essential and a very timely step forward, because Caspian gas will run through a special route through Turkey to the European Union, it is good news for TAP, which was chosen by the Shah Deniz Consortium as a project for the southern route. Such developments open up the Southern Gas Corridor", TAP Managing Director Kzhetil Tungland said.
He added that everyone is impatient to see the consortium choose the best version for the northern route and the variant to connect TANAP.
Moreover, the project will improve Azerbaijan's role and status as a partner supplying Europe with gas. There are no doubts that Azerbaijan will fill the pipeline on its own. Azerbaijan wants to increase gas extraction in 5-7 years. 10 billion cubic meters annually will be extracted at Shah Deniz since 2017. Other fields may join: Umid (over 200 billion cubic meters of gas reserves), Absheron (350 billion cubic meters of gas reserves), Azeri-Cirag-Guneshli (300 billion cubic meters), Shafag-Asiman (about 500 billion cubic meters), Babek (400 billion) and Nakhchivan (300 billion).
Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and the EU are considering extending the Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline to allow Turkmen gas to reach Europe. If Ashkhabad decides to start supplying gas to the EU, all pipelines will be of use.
