Erdogan: TANAP turns Turkey into energy hub

Ankara, January 16 - Neftegaz.RU. The Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP), which is the embodiment of Turkey-Azerbaijan cooperation, has turned Turkey into an energy hub, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, commenting on the results of 2019, Trend reports referring to Turkish media.

Erdogan noted that despite the economic instability, TANAP was commissioned earlier than planned. “It is one of the most important energy projects in the region,” the Turkish president said.

The opening ceremony of the TANAP-Europe connection was held on Nov. 30, 2019 in Ipsala, Edirne province of Turkey. In this area, near the Greek border, TANAP is connected to the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), through which natural gas from Azerbaijan will be delivered to European countries.

Opening ceremony of TANAP's Phase 0 took place on June 12, 2018, in the Turkish province of Eskisehir, and commercial gas deliveries to Turkey began in late June 2018.

The volume of gas transportation to Turkey via TANAP has reached 3.08 billion cubic meters (bcm) since the start of commercial gas supplies on June 30, 2018 as of late October 2019. The initial capacity of TANAP, which is the main segment of the Southern Gas Corridor, is 16 billion cu m of gas.

Around 6 billion cu m of this gas will be supplied to Turkey while the remaining volume - to Europe. After the completion of TAP construction, gas will be supplied to Europe in early 2020. The share distribution of TANAP shareholders is as follows: Southern Gas Corridor - 51 %, SOCAR Turkey Enerji - 7 %, Botas - 30 %, BP - 12 %.