Ali Hasanov, assistant to the President of Azerbaijan on social and political issues, believes that the issue of transportation of gas from Turkmenistan, Iraq and Iran through the TRANS-Anatolian gas pipeline (TANAP) may be considered in the future. It is reported by INTERFAX-Azerbaijan.
“After the official launch of the TANAP gas pipeline on June 12, 6 billion cubic meters of gas will be supplied to the Turkish market per year (from the Azerbaijani Shah Deniz-if-AZ field). In 2020, another 10 billion cubic meters of gas will be supplied to Europe through this pipeline. Until 2026, it is possible to increase the capacity of the gas pipeline to 31 billion cubic meters of gas per year. At the next stages, the issue of delivery of gas from Turkmenistan, Iran and Iraq to the world markets through this pipeline may be considered,” Hasanov said on his Facebook page.
As A. Hasanov noted, the southern gas corridor (SGC) will increase the importance of Azerbaijan in the region and in Europe and will raise the country’s relations with the West to a higher level.
“This corridor will increase the role of Azerbaijan not only as an exporter of energy resources, but also as a transit country. The SGC will also become a serious factor in diversifying energy supplies to Europe and a new opportunity for exporting energy resources to the world markets by the countries of the region,” Hasanov said.
He also stressed that the SGC will play an important role in ensuring the energy security of the region and Europe, will contribute to the development of mutual cooperation and business relations between countries and peoples, and will have a serious impact on ensuring security and stability in the region.
The launch ceremony of the SGC took place on Tuesday at the Sangachal terminal.
The SGC project provides for the creation of a pipeline infrastructure for the transportation of Azerbaijani gas produced within the Stage 2 of the Shah Deniz field to Europe through Turkey. The cost of the project is estimated at over $40 billion.
The main components of the project are: stage-2 of the Shah Deniz project, expansion of the Baku-Georgia-border pipeline with Turkey, construction of TANAP from the Eastern to the Western border of Turkey and the TRANS-Adriatic gas pipeline (TAP) connecting Greece, Albania and the Adriatic sea to the South of Italy.
TANAP with a length of 1.85 thousand km is intended for transportation of Azerbaijani gas from the Shah Deniz field within the Stage-2 from the Georgian-Turkish border to the Western borders of Turkey.
The gas pipeline is scheduled to be launched on June 12. The ceremony will be attended by the presidents of Turkey and Azerbaijan Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Ilham Aliyev.
