Azerbaijan boosts natural gas exports to Turkey in December 2020
By Ayya Lmahamad
Azerbaijan increased natural gas exports to Turkey by 18.9 percent in December 2020 brining the volume of gas exports to 1.1 billion cubic meters, local media has reported.
Azerbaijan was Turkey's second-largest exporter, followed by Russia, with 2.9 billion cubic meters.
It should be noted that Turkey imports Azerbaijani natural gas through the South Caucasus Gas Pipeline (Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum) and TANAP. Azerbaijan supplies gas to Turkey only from Shah Deniz field. The supplies have been made since July 2007.
Overall, Azerbaijan increased natural gas exports to Turkey by 21 percent, bringing the volume of exports to 11.1 billion cubic meters in 2020. Of the total exported volume, 4.7 billion cubic meters of gas were transported via Trans-Anatolian Gas Pipeline, and the rest via the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum pipeline.
The South Caucasus Pipeline was built to export Shah Deniz gas from Azerbaijan to Georgia and Turkey. The pipeline starts from the Sangachal terminal near Baku. It follows the route of the BTC crude oil pipeline through Azerbaijan and Georgia to Turkey, where it is linked to the Turkish gas distribution system. The pipeline has been operational since late 2006 transporting gas to Azerbaijan and Georgia, and starting from July 2007 to Turkey from Shah Deniz Stage 1.
TANAP is the central part of the Southern Gas Corridor, which connects the giant Shah Deniz gas field in Azerbaijan to Europe through the South Caucasus Pipeline and the Trans Adriatic Pipeline. The pipeline has strategic importance as it allows the Azerbaijani gas exports to Europe. The capacity of the pipeline is 16 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year at the initial stage and would be increased later up to 23 billion cubic meters by 2023, 31 billion cubic meters by 2026, and at the final stage 60 billion cubic meters.
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Ayya Lmahamad is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @AyyaLmahamad
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