Turkish Tanap Line Over 3/4 Built

To date, the construction of the 31bn m³/yr Trans-Anatolian Pipeline is 77.3% built, and gas supplies will begin to flow through it in the second half of 2018, the head of Azerbaijan's state oil company Socar Rovnag Abdullayev said July 24.

Tanap is the central part of the so-called Southern Gas Corridor, an idea that benefited from US and European Union support as it would symbolically cut Europe's dependence on Russian gas.

According to him, the total cost of the Tanap project is estimated at $8.5bn. He noted that this project, implemented with the support of the Turkish government, will be completed ahead of schedule and much more cheaply than first budgeted: the initial cost of Tanap was estimated at $11.8bn.

The 1,850-km pipeline is designed to transport Azerbaijani gas within the Shah Deniz-2 project from the Georgian-Turkish border to the western borders of Turkey. Initial flows are 16bn m³/yr, of which 6bn m³/yr are for Turkish consumption and the rest flows on to Greece, Bulgaria, Albania and Italy. There is the potential to double it if there is gas to flow, such as from the Apsheron field, operated by French Total, for which a final investment decision is due to be taken later this year.

The laying of the foundation of the Tanap gas pipeline took place on March 17, 2015 in the Turkish in the province of Kars. Of the equity, 30% belongs to Turkish Botas, 58% to Socar and 12% to UK major BP.

Azerbaijan desk