Botas Can Fill in the Gaps for TANAP

Botas's own infrastructure can be used to transport gas from the Shah Deniz-2 field should the TANAP project not be completed in time, a BP official has said.

Media reports quote Bud Fackrell, BP Country Manager for Turkey, as saying that Botas is ready to update its infrastructure to meet the supply requirements for the massive Azeri gas field, should the Trans Anatolian pipeline (TANAP) be delayed in any way.

"The negotiations on TANAP project implementation have been successfully held with Azerbaijani side," Mr. Fackrell is reported to have said. "If this gas pipeline is not ready in time, Botas infrastructure can be used."

Work has already begun on the 2,000 kilometre-pipeline in Turkey with a feasibility study into the project underway currently. The construction of the pipeline is due to begin in autumn of this year, vice president of SOCAR Vagif Aliyev said in April.

At that time, pipes and other necessary equipment is due to be ordered, with work to begin on the pipeline following the signing of an intergovernmental agreement on its construction.

If constructed, the Trans Anatolian pipeline would transport route from the Azeri field to Turkey and through the rest of Europe. Last week, Elshad Nassirov, deputy head of SOCAR, said that there was still a strong possibility that TANAP would link with the Nabucco West pipeline, with a "50/50 chance".