Azernews.Az

Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) considers the Azerbaijani-Turkish gas pipeline (TANAP) an ideal transportation solution within Turkey for the delivery of Azerbaijani gas to the western border of Turkey with Europe.

"TANAP solves the so-called 'Turkish transit' problem in the Southern Gas Corridor by providing a very sound solution for the transportation of Caspian gas from the Turkish-Georgian border to the western borders of Turkey," TAP’s External Affairs and Communications Director, Michael Hoffmann, said in an interview with the Baku-based Trend news agency.

Hoffmann stressed that the intergovernmental agreement between Azerbaijan and Turkey on gas transit, which was signed in October 2011, is a very important achievement, not only for both countries, but also for all the parties involved in the development of the Southern Gas Corridor.

"This agreement is definitely a step in the right direction and is the culmination of a lot of hard work from both Azerbaijan and Turkey," Hoffmann said. "For TAP it is important to have the Turkish transit piece concluded, and significantly reinforce the strength of our own pipeline project concept. Significantly, it ensures a level playing field for all of the projects vying to secure transit rights for bringing Shah Deniz [Azerbaijani gas field in the Caspian Sea] gas to Europe."

The signed agreement envisages several options to ensure the Azerbaijani gas transportation from the eastern borders of Turkey to the West, among which are the modernization and expansion of existing infrastructure in Turkey and the construction of a new pipeline through the country's territory.

Hoffmann added, "TAP will be happy to work with the developers of TANAP for any required coordination between the two pipelines, thus providing a fully integrated solution for the delivery of Caspian gas to Europe."

In late 2011 Azerbaijan and Turkey signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish the consortium that will construct a gas pipeline to supply gas from the Shah Deniz gas condensate field to Europe through the Turkish territory.

The construction of TANAP is required for the export of the most part of 50 billion cubic meters of gas that Azerbaijan intends to produce by 2025.

The parties involved in the project intend to resolve all issues on this gas pipeline in 2012. They also plan to commence construction immediately in order to complete it by late 2017. The second stage of development of the Shah Deniz gas field will be launched by late 2017.

The TANAP pipeline cost will be set by the Azerbaijani state energy firm Socar and may be close to $5 billion. The initial capacity of TANAP will amount to 16 billion cubic meters per year.

On October 1, 2011, the pipeline projects designed to transport Azerbaijani gas to European markets that are part of the Southern Gas Corridor – Nabucco, Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) and Interconnector Turkey-Greece-Italy (ITGI) -- submitted their final proposals to Azerbaijan. The consortium developing the Shahdaniz field, which has estimated reserves of 1.2 trillion cubic meters, is considering possible routes. The decision on the preferable transportation route is expected to be made in the first quarter of 2012.

TAP is designed to transport gas from the Caspian region via Greece and Albania and across the Adriatic Sea to southern Italy and further into western Europe. The initial pipeline capacity will be 10 billion cubic meters per year, expandable to 20 billion cubic meters. TAP's shareholders are EGL of Switzerland (42.5 percent), Norway's Statoil (42.5 percent) and E.ON Ruhrgas of Germany (15 percent).