Tanap Seeks More Gas Shippers
Turkey and Azerbaijan are ready to expand the Trans Anatolian gas pipeline (Tanap) into a major gas transit route to Europe, and not one solely for Azerbaijani gas from the Caspian. Both countries are keen to recruit shippers of gas from other countries too.
The Southern gas corridor (SGC) and its Turkish component, the Trans Anatolian gas pipeline (Tanap), will be useful for transporting gas not only from Shah Deniz-2, but also from Iran, Iraq, Cyprus and Israel, Azerbaijan’s energy minister Natig Aliyev told an international conference in Baku
While Tanap's initial shipping capacity will be 16bn m3/yr in order to fully accommodate output from Shah Deniz 2, it is designed for further expansion.
According to Socar, it is possible to expand Tanap's capacity in the future to 23bn to 24bn m3/yr, and even as high as 31bn m3/yr, by constructing new compressor stations and other facilities.
Addressing to the same conference in Baku, BP Azerbaijan’s vice president Bakhtiyar Aslanbeyli said that the SGC may be attractive to Iran, Iraq and Central Asia as a transit route to Europe for their gas. He said he was expressing his personal opinion, rather than a corporate viewpoint.
“The project has been designed not only for BP-operated Shah Deniz output but also for third parties' gas,” he said.
He said the 10bn m3/yr from Shah Deniz 2 that is due for delivery to Europe in 2020 will mark only the start of the SGC, supported by the EU and US. “It will be waiting for interest from third parties", said Aslanbeyli, adding that Shah Deniz 2 volume will represent only 2% of Europe's gas consumption.
If Iran plans to start exporting gas to Europe, it would be easier to connect to Tanap than to build their own gas pipelines, he said.
Tanap CEO Saltuk Duzyol late last week expressed similar views, saying that the pipeline would be useful for Iraq and Turkmenistan to carry their gas to Europe, according to a report in Turkey's Star newspaper.
Several natural gas fields in northern Iraq could be linked up to the pipeline, said Duzyol, adding that company has been working on the Iraq option, but adding that attracting gas from Turkmenistan was also possible.
All the major Tanap construction contracts -- apart from the short section under the Marmara sea -- have been signed, noted Duzyol: “The project has passed of no return point and is progressing quite fast. We work hard to meet our goal to finish it in June 2018.”
Estimated to cost $ 9 billion project will seek a funding from international financial institution and markets.
According to Aliyev, the next meeting for attracting funding for SGC and Tanap is scheduled for April 27 although he gave no further details of who would attend.
The World Bank and the European Investment Bank are set to invest $1bn and €1bn respectively in Tanap, Turkish newspaper Hurriyet reported.
Whereas initial costs of Tanap were set at $11.7bn, it was revised down to $9.2bn after some costs were cut due to lower material and services costs.
The funding will be used by Tanap’s partner Botas to meet part of its commitment to the project which is around $3 billion.
Tanap has to become operational in 2018 with the first gas delivery to Turkey. By 2020 its entire section, including the European part, has to be ready and connected to the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) at the Greek border.
Three pipelines -- the expanded South Caucasus gas pipeline, Tanap and TAP -- will form the Southern Gas Corridor that will deliver 6bn m3/yr of Shah Deniz-2 gas to Turkey and a further 10bn m3/yr to Europe.
Kama Mustafayeva