Azeri state oil fund to start financing TANAP in 2013
Azerbaijan's state oil fund SOFAZ will start funding the project on the Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline (TANAP) in 2013, Executive Director Shahmar Movsumov said Tuesday during discussions on the draft state budget for 2013 and the next three years at a joint meeting of five parliamentary committees.
TANAP project envisages construction of a pipeline from Turkey's eastern border to the western border to transport gas from Azerbaijan's offshore Shah Deniz field to Europe. Initial capacity of the pipeline will be 16 billion cubic meters. Some 6 billion cubic meters of the volume will be supplied to Turkey, while the rest will be transported to European markets.
Azerbaijan and Turkey signed an intergovernmental agreement on TANAP implementation in June.
Azerbaijan's state energy firm SOCAR holds 80 percent in the TANAP project, while Turkey's BOTAS has a 20 percent share.
SOFAZ was established in 1999 when its assets amounted to only $271 million. The Fund's assets have hit $32 billion.