Turkey to launch gas pipeline to Europe in June that will bypass Russia
Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Berat Albayrak stated that the Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline (TANAP), which will deliver gas to EU countries on a route that bypasses Russia, will be officially commissioned on June 12. Anadolu reported on this.
Albayrak said that the Presidents of Turkey and Azerbaijan, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Ilham Aliyev, will participate in the ceremony to launch operations for TANAP. The heads and ministers of other countries will attend as well.
The Energy and Natural Resources Minister also noted that Turkey will start deep-sea drilling in the Mediterranean this summer.
The initial throughput capacity of the TANAP pipeline is expected to be 16 billion cubic meters of gas per annum. Approximately six billion cubic meters will be delivered to Turkey, while the rest will continue on to Europe.
The TANAP project is a key component of the Southern Gas Corridor, which involves the transportation of Azerbaijani gas from the Caspian region through Georgia and Turkey to European countries.
In the first stage, gas will be supplemented by second-stage development of Shah Deniz gas condensate field in Azerbaijan; this gas will be considered the principal source for the projects of the Southern Gas Corridor. At a later stage, other sources may be connected to the project.
The Southern Gas Corridor is one of the EU's priority projects for gas transport.