
The Azerbaijani parliament has ratified an agreement with Turkey on the
transit of Azerbaijani gas through its territory and construction of an
independent pipeline.
In particular, at its regular meeting the
parliament ratified a Memorandum of Understanding between the
Azerbaijani and Turkish governments on the transit of natural gas from
Azerbaijan through Turkey's territory and construction of an independent
gas pipeline (Trans-Anatolian Gas Pipeline) to ensure gas transit
through Turkey.
Deputy Parliamentary Speaker Valeh Alasgarov said
on Friday the memorandum is one of the documents included in the
package of agreements which will be gradually adopted.
The
Trans-Anatolian Gas Pipeline (TANAP) project envisages gas
transportation from the Shah Deniz field to Europe via Turkey. The
initial capacity of the pipeline is expected to reach 16 billion cubic
meters per year. Around six billion cubic meters will be delivered to
Turkey and the rest - to Europe. The pipeline is expected to cost $7
billion. The construction is planned to start in 2014 and to be
completed by 2018.
Presently, a 20 percent share in TANAP belongs
to Turkish BOTAS and TPAO companies while 80 percent share is owned by
State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR). SOCAR intends to retain 51
percent of the equity in the project. The rest of SOCAR's share will be
distributed between the partners of the Shah Deniz project.
In
January, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev approved the agreement on
"The System of the Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline between the Azerbaijani
and Turkish governments", signed in Istanbul on June 26, 2012.
/AzerTAc/