Turkey, Azerbaijan Sign Landmark Gas Pipeline Deal
By KUNA
Turkey and Azerbaijan signed on Monday a memorandum of understanding to build a new gas pipeline to carry Azeri gas to Turkey and Europe.
The Trans-Anatolia pipeline agreement was signed by Turkey’s Energy Minister Taner Yildiz and his Azeri colleague Natik Aliyev in a televised ceremony.
The pipeline which will take five years to build will run from Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz 2 field in the Caspian Sea to Turkey’s European borders.
Of the pipeline’s capacity of 16 billion cubic metres about six billion cubic metres of natural gas is expected to be consumed in Turkey leaving 10 billion cubic metres for European customers.
Under the agreement Azerbaijan’s state-owned gas company Socar and Turkey’s gas company Botas and its oil company TPAO become the first members of the pipeline consortium, which could be opened to foreign companies.
