SOCAR and BOTAŞ will create new company for TANAP

Baku. 1 May. REPORT.AZ/ The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) and BOTAŞ are planning to establish a joint venture to manage the Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) project, which is being implemented to transport Azerbaijani gas to Turkey and from Europe.

Report informs citing the Haberturk, each of the parties will have a 50% stake in a joint venture.

It was noted that this joint venture, which manages the TANAP project, will also be responsible for safety of pipeline.

Notably, "Southern Gas Corridor" CJSC has 51% share in TANAP project and SOCAR Turkey Enerji AS, a subsidiary of SOCAR in Turkey - 7%, BOTAŞ - 30% and BP - 12%. SOCAR Turkey Energy has joined TANAP shareholders at the end of March this year. The company has purchased a share from the "Southern Gas Corridor" CJSC. 51% of state-owned shares of the CJSC belong to the Ministry of Economy, 49% to SOCAR.

Notably, TANAP is a pipeline, which will transport the gas produced by development of second phase of Azerbaijan's 'Shah Deniz' field in the Caspian Sea to Turkey and then to Europe. TANAP, which is the branch of the Southern Gas Corridor project, is being constructed in the territory of Turkey. The pipeline will connect to Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), designed to transport Azerbaijani gas to Europe through Turkey-Greece border. On March 17, 2015, groundbreaking ceremony of the TANAP was held in Kars, Turkey with participation of Azerbaijani, Turkish and Georgian Presidents. Initial capacity of the pipeline, which is planned to be put into operation in 2018, will be 16 billion cum/year. About 6 billion cum of this gas will be delivered to Turkey, the remaining to Europe. The TANAP pipeline will have two starting points in Turkish provinces Eskişehir and Thrace. The sale of gas in Turkey will be carried out by BOTAS. The total length of the pipeline is 1 850 km. 19 km section of the pipeline will pass through the Sea of Marmara.

"TANAP is being constructed in two phases. Phase-0 is of 56 inches diameter and 1 334 km long. Construction works in this phase are being carried out on the route starting from Turkish-Georgian border stretching to Eskişehir.. "Phase-1" consists of the pipeline with a diameter of 48 inches and length of 476 km, Phase-1 will be ready to accept gas for Europe by the end of 2019.