TANAP groundbreaking ceremony to be held on March 17

ANKARA - Anadolu Agency

AA Photo

The groundbreaking ceremony of the Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) is planned to take place next week in the eastern province of Kars, with the participation of presidents from Turkey and Azerbaijan, Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yıldız said on March 9.

“The ceremony will be held on March 17 in Kars at the level of presidents, barring a last minute cancelation,” Yıldız said during a meeting with the representatives from the Steel Pipe Manufacturers’ Association (ÇEBİD).

The TANAP project envisages gas transportation from Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz II field through Turkey and up to the country’s border with Europe.

Some 1.3 million tons of steel pipes will be used for around $1.5 billion, Yıldız said.

“Only 200,000 tons of these pipes will be produced abroad, while 1.1 million tons will be produced in Turkey. This is of great importance for us. We’ll ensure several anti-damping probes will not have an adverse effect on the TANAP,” he added.

Many other potential pipelines in the region will create a huge market, of which Turkey will take a big share, Yıldız stated.

“I am in favor of the participation of Turkish steel producers in big energy projects, as we have quite advanced technologies and production capacities. For the record, I should say that our steel producers export more than the total annual pipe needs of the TANAP in volume,” he added.

Turkey’s steel industry produces 2 million tons of steel pipes worth over $1.5 billion per year, said ÇEBİD head Ahmet Kamil Erciyas, adding that the annual production capacity of the sector is around 6 million tons.

He said the Turkish sector had been encouraged to provide locally produced steel for the TANAP, but this was not economical.

“We needed to import the raw material from the countries which offer the cheapest prices. We can complete the whole production before the deadline comes,” Erciyas said.

He also asked for the exclusion of the TANAP from the anti-damping initiatives of the steel sector.
Anticipating the initiatives, which cover seven steel exporting countries, the Turkish sector is preparing to close its doors to steel from these countries.

The initial capacity of TANAP is expected to be 16 billion cubic meters (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. The gas will arrive in Turkey by 2018, and after the construction of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) it will reach Europe by early 2020.

Yıldız also said the government plans to reactivate eight oil exploration wells in the eastern and southeastern provinces of Turkey as the peace process proceeds.

“These wells will be active again for an investment of around $188 million, in order to resume production of around 330,000 barrels,” he added.