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ISTANBUL, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Turkey and Azerbaijan formally
marked the completion of the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas
Pipeline (TANAP) on Saturday, a milestone in a major project to
help reduce Europe's dependence on Russian gas.
TANAP comprises the longest stretch of the $40 billion
Southern Gas Corridor, a series of pipelines that will carry gas
from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz II field to Europe.
The $6.5 billion TANAP crosses the breadth of Turkey, east
to west, and could transport up to 16 billion cubic metres (bcm)
of Azeri gas a year. Europe is allocated 10 bcm, with 6 bcm
earmarked for the Turkish market. Capacity could be increased to
31 bcm with additional investment.
An inauguration ceremony was held on Saturday in the Turkish
town of Ipsala on the Greek border and attended by Turkey's
President Tayyip Erdogan and Azerbaijan's President Ilham
Aliyev.
It marked the completion of the transfer infrastructure to
Greece as well as the whole TANAP pipeline. TANAP's first
section, ending at a Turkish discharge point in Eskisehir, was
completed last year.
"Aside from insuring the energy needs of our country with
TANAP, we aimed to contribute to Europe's energy supply
security," Erdogan said.
The pipeline connects to the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP),
which is still under construction and will then transfer up to
10 bcm gas to Greece, Albania and Italy.
"The real responsibility from now on lies with our
neighbours on the other side of the border. The Trans-Adriatic
Pipeline needs to be completed as soon as possible to start the
transfer of gas to Europe," said Erdogan, adding that it was
expected to be completed in 2020.
TANAP's shareholders are Azeri state energy company SOCAR
(51%), Turkish pipeline operator BOTAS (30%), BP (12%)
and SOCAR Turkey (7%).
Separately, Erdogan said Turkey and Russia would launch the
Turkstream pipeline with a ceremony in Istanbul on Jan. 8.
Russia is Turkey's largest gas supplier.
The first part of the pipeline is designed to supply Turkish
domestic customers, while the second part is expected to run
further - from Bulgaria to Serbia and Hungary.
(Reporting by Can Sezer and Ali Kucukgocmen; Editing by Pravin
Char)
