ECONOMY
GAS TRANSPORTATION AGREEMENT BETWEEN TURKEY AND AZERBAIJAN PAVES WAY FOR TAP
Baku, June 8 (AZERTAC). Trans Adriatic Pipeline project congratulates the governments of Turkey and Azerbaijan on reaching an important agreement on gas transportation today. The agreement will regulate the sale of Azerbaijan gas to Turkey and its transportation to the European markets through the territory of Turkey. In particular, the agreement covers the price and quantity of gas to be exported from the Shah Deniz II project, which is a potential source of gas for the pipeline projects such as the Trans Adriatic Pipeline in the Southern Gas Corridor, linking Caspian gas resources to the European markets.
Furthermore, the agreement paves the way for further development of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline project. At the moment TAP is at the front end engineering stage (FEED) and its schedule is aligned with the upstream developments in Azerbaijan. “TAP welcomes this long-awaited agreement, which is a significant achievement for both countries. TAP further looks forward to making continued progress in order to be ready for the start of gas production of Shah Deniz II” said Michael Hoffmann, External Affairs and Communications Director at TAP.
Trans Adriatic Pipeline with length of 520 km is an attractive gas transportation project for Azerbaijan as it offers the shortest and least expensive route for Caspian gas to reach European markets via Turkey. An assessed value of the project is 2.2 billion dollars. The gas pipeline is expected to be put into commission in 2011. Initial pipeline throughput will stood at 10 billion cubic meters of gas per year.