June Opening Set for Azerbaijan-Turkey Gas Pipeline

The Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP), a natural gas pipeline from Azerbaijan passing through Georgia and Turkey to Europe, is to be put into operation on June 12.

The Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of Turkey, Berat Albayrak, said that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as well as Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, will take part in the opening ceremony of the gas pipeline, with gas supplies to begin on June 30.

The Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline construction project was launched in March 2015. It is planned to supply gas to Western Europe from the large Azerbaijani Shah Deniz-2 field. Shah Deniz Stage 2, or Full Field Development (FFD) is a giant project that will add a further 16 billion cubic meters per year (bcma) of gas production to the approximately 10 bcma produced by Shah Deniz Stage 1.

TANAP is a whole system of gas pipelines running from the Georgian-Turkish to the Turkish-Greek border, as well as a short sea section. The capacity of the gas pipeline with a total length of about 1850 kilometers will be at least 16 billion cubic meters.

By Dimitri Dolaberidze