Azernews.Az

Baku and Ankara intend to build a new gas pipeline to Turkey to export most of 50 billion cubic meters of gas that Azerbaijan plans to produce by 2025, head of the Azerbaijani state energy firm SOCAR said Thursday.

"Azerbaijan and Turkey have agreed to study the project on building the pipeline," Rovnag Abdullayev said in an interview with the ANS TV channel, posted on SOCAR’s website.

Abdullayev said that with the increase in gas production in the Caspian region, the pipeline’s capacity will increase. He said the project will be implemented by the two countries, but the participation of foreign companies is possible as well.

Participants of the project intend to resolve all issues concerning the planned pipeline in 2012, and launch construction work without delay in order to have it ready by the end of 2017, when the second stage of developing Azerbaijan’s Shahdaniz gas condensate field in the Caspian Sea will begin.

Abdullayev reminded that on Tuesday in Izmir, Turkey and Azerbaijan signed 15 documents, including an agreement to sell gas to Turkey during Phase 2 of the Shahdaniz project from 2017, and an agreement on transit of gas from Shahdaniz-2 to Europe in 2017-2042 via the networks of Turkish state pipeline company Botas.

"These agreements constitute a complete package of documents for the transportation of Azerbaijani gas to Turkey's border with Greece and Bulgaria. In fact, all conditions have been created for realization of projects of the Southern Gas Corridor, which will connect the Caspian region to Europe.

"The interests of all existing users of the Turkish gas transportation system as well as those of Azerbaijan had been taken into account while drafting the transit agreement, which took about five years," Abdullayev said.

According to him, in late 2011 or early 2012, the partners of the Shahdaniz consortium will complete the selection of the pipeline project, which will enable to export Azerbaijani gas to European markets. These projects include ITGI, TAP, Nabucco, and the route proposed by BP, which envisages delivering gas via Turkey to the Balkan countries.