BAKU, Oct 27 (Reuters) - BP is expected to finish alllegal procedures to become a stakeholder before the end of theyear in the multi-billion dollar Trans-Anatolian gas pipelineproject (TANAP) which promises to reduce Europe's reliance onRussian gas, an official at Azeri state energy company SOCARsaid on Monday.
Vagif Aliyev, SOCAR's investment department chief, toldreporters that after signing all documents BP, which decided tojoin TANAP last year, would hold a 12 percent stake in theproject. SOCAR will hold 58 percent and Turkish pipeline firmBotas 30 percent.
Botas raised its stake to 30 percent from 20 percent thisyear, while SOCAR said in June it may consider selling part ofits share, but keeping a controlling stake in the project.
TANAP envisages carrying 16 billion cubic metres (bcm) ofgas a year from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz II field in the CaspianSea, one of the world's largest gas fields, which is beingdeveloped by a BP-led consortium.
The pipeline will run from the Turkish-Georgian border toTurkey's frontier with Bulgaria and Greece. Its construction isexpected to be completed by the end of 2018 in order to startdeliveries of gas from Shah Deniz II to Europe in 2019. Thepreliminary cost of the pipeline has been estimated at $10-$11billion.
Aliyev said that gas supplies from other sites in Azerbaijanas well as from countries in Middle East and Mediterranean wereunder consideration as additional sources for the pipeline,which may boost its capacity in the future to 31 bcm. (Reporting by Nailia Bagirova; Writing by Margarita Antidze;Editing by Greg Mahlich)
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