Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

Azerbaijani state energy company started choosing a location for the construction of Trans Anatolian gas pipeline (TANAP), SOCAR head Rovnag Abdullayev said on November 4.

The process is done in collaboration with the Turkish Botas Company specialists.

Geologists are currently working on the route of the pipeline, Abdullayev told journalists.

Abdullayev also said that work on the detailed engineering of the pipeline project was successfully underway.

The TANAP project, jointly developed by Azerbaijan's SOCAR, Turkish state pipeline company Botas, and energy company TPAO, will deliver Shah Deniz gas to the Turkish-Greek border from eastern Turkey.

The initial capacity of the pipeline will be 16 billion cubic meters of gas a year. TANAP will connect to the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) on the Turkish-Greek border.

Abdullayev went on to note that his company plans to complete the construction of the largest and deepest container port in Turkey by late 2014 or early 2015.

According to him, the project's financial resources and contracting companies have already been determined.

Preparations for starting the construction of the container port are underway and the inauguration ceremony is expected to be attended by Turkish Prime Minister.

Abdullayev also said that the new port will bring additional income to the Petkim Petrochemical Holding co-owned by SOCAR.

Building the container port is expected to start on November 13.

The construction of the container port is one of the projects rapidly implemented in Turkey, and agreement on the construction of a new port was reached with Danish and Dutch companies.

The port will belong to Turkey, but Danish and Dutch companies will operate it for 30 years.

It is expected that the first and the second phase of the port's construction be completed in 2015 and 2016, and the project will cost $400 million.

The investment process is expected to be completed in 2014.

The initial capacity of the port will be 1.5 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) which will be increased to four million TEU in the future. Its capacity will exceed the capacity of Aslandzhak port by about 50 percent.

Petkim is co-owned by the Azerbaijani state energy company SOCAR and Dutch company APM Terminals, one of the world's leading port operators.

In February last year, Petkim signed an agreement on the construction of a container port with the capacity of 1.5 million TEU.

Petkim will invest in the construction of the port and its infrastructure, while APM Terminals will invest in vehicles and equipment.