The Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline, TANAP, is ready to deliver natural gas from the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea to the western shores of Turkey and on to Europe.
The project cost seven billion dollars, although originally was estimated at 11.7 billion USD, the state oil company of Azerbaijan, SOCAR, says.
Economist Ilham Shaban, editor of caspianbarrel.org, explains the cost reduction by the fall in prices for metals and service contracts, as well as luck.
“TANAP has gone down in history as the longest gas pipeline with the widest diameter in Turkey, in the Middle East and in Europe,” the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan, SOCAR, said in an official report.
Photo: caspianbarrel.org
The Southern Gas Corridor project consists of three parts: the South Caucasus Pipeline from the Shah Deniz field in the Azerbaijani waters of the Caspian Sea through Georgia; TANAP – through all of Turkey to Greece; and TAP – through Greece to Italy
TANAP is part of the Southern Gas Corridor project for the delivery of Azerbaijani gas from the Caspian gas fields to Turkey and Europe.
The foundation was laid in Kars in 2015. About 6 billion cubic meters of gas per year will be supplied to Turkey, 10 billion cubic meters to Europe, to where gas will flow as early as 2020.
Shareholders of TANAP include:
30% – Turkish company Botaş;
58% – State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR);
12% – British Petroleum.
Azerbaijani gas has been delivered to Turkey via the TANAP pipeline since the summer of 2018.