TANAP to start delivering gas in June

ESKİŞEHİR

The Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) will start to operate at the end of June, General Manager Saltuk Düzyol said on April 18.

“We have planned to open the valve on June 30 to start the commercial gas flow. In total, 93.5 percent of the project is completed,” said Düzyol at the compressor station in the Central Anatolian province of Eskişehir, the main unloading point of natural gas in Turkey.

Some “99.9 percent of the landline part of the project is completed. We have reached a realization rate of 80.7 percent in the Phase-1 part, which will extend to Europe,” he added.

TANAP, running from the eastern province of Ardahan on the border with Georgia towards borders with Greece and Bulgaria, is the central and longest section of the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC). The main aim of SGC is to connect the giant Shah Deniz gas field in Azerbaijan to Europe through the South Caucasus Pipeline (SCP), TANAP, and the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP). The SCP runs from Azerbaijan to Turkey through Georgia and the TAP starts in Greece and runs to Italy through Albania and the Adriatic Sea.

Tests continue since January

Natural gas has been pumped into the TANAP pipeline for tests since Jan. 23, according to Düzyol’s remarks.

The 1,841-kilometer pipeline was planned to cost $11.7 billion but was decreased to $7.99 billion, he said. The European Union has granted $10.2 million for the project.

The SGC company holds a 51 percent stake in the TANAP. The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) recently bought a 7 percent stake from SGC, becoming the fourth partner in the project. Turkey’s Petroleum Pipeline Corporation (BOTAŞ) holds a 30 percent stake and the London-based company BP PLC holds a stake of 12 percent.

Gas from Iraq could be included

Natural gas from Iraq and the East Mediterranean could be carried by the TANAP in the future despite the fact that it was designed to transport natural gas from Azerbaijan.

“If the host government makes the necessary adjustments, it may be possible to include the natural gas coming from Iraq and the East Mediterranean in the pipeline system in the future. No underground storage facility has been planned so far. We will only give transportation service between the entrance and exit points. When there is a capacity for storage, which is a need, we should consider that,” Düzyol said.

The TANAP is projected to double the amount of natural gas exported from Azerbaijan to Turkey. Turkey imports 6.6 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas from Azerbaijan annually.

The initial capacity of TANAP is expected to be 16 billion bcm of gas per year, gradually increasing to 31 bcm. Around 6 bcm of gas will be delivered to Turkey, and the remaining volume will be supplied to Europe.

After completion, gas through the TAP will reach Europe by early 2020.