Pointing out that the capacity of the TANAP Project has increased, Azerbaijan’s Ambassador to Ankara Mammadov said, “This year, it is expected to export 22.2 billion cubic meters of gas, of which 10.2 billion cubic meters to Turkiye and 12 billion cubic meters to Europe.”
Azerbaijan’s Ambassador to Ankara Resad Mammadov made evaluations to the AA correspondent regarding the cooperation between Turkiye and Azerbaijan in the field of energy.
Mammadov stated that they have joined the Caspian Sea with Turkiye, with the integration of TANAP, which was built for the delivery of natural gas from Azerbaijan to Turkiye and Europe and started operations on 12 June 2018, with the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum Natural Gas Pipeline. He stated that the project strengthens Turkiye’s energy security and enables Azerbaijan to sell gas abroad.
Mammadov pointed out that the total investment cost of Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum, TANAP and the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) stretching from Azerbaijan to Italy is $40 billion, “TANAP, one of the biggest and most important steps in the energy field of the successful cooperation between Turkiye and Azerbaijan, is one of the most strategic steps taken so far towards increasing the diversity of natural gas resources in Europe and Turkiye, as well as Turkiye’s becoming an energy corridor. Thanks to this project, Turkiye-Azerbaijan energy cooperation, which started in the period of the founding leader, Mr. Heydar Aliyev, has moved to a new dimension.”
Emphasizing that a total of 46 billion cubic meters of gas, 22 billion cubic meters to Turkiye and 24 billion cubic meters to Europe, has been transported since TANAP started operations, Mammadov said, “If we look at the new figures, we can see that the volume has increased greatly. This year, with TANAP, it is expected to export 22.2 billion cubic meters of gas, 10.2 billion cubic meters to Turkiye and 12 billion cubic meters to Europe. TANAP’s plan to double the transmission capacity from the current 16 billion cubic meters in the coming years will make a significant contribution to Turkiye’s transformation into a ‘natural gas hub.”
According to the “Natural Gas Market 2022 Sector Report” of the Energy Market Regulatory Authority, gas shipments from Azerbaijan to Turkiye amounted to 8 billion 705 million cubic meters in 2022. Increasing the gas shipment in question to 10.2 billion cubic meters this year means an increase of approximately 1.5 billion cubic meters on an annual basis.
“TANAP has brought Turkiye to the level of an ‘energy hub'”
Mammadov said, “Increasing the capacity to 32 billion cubic meters will allow the gas of both Azerbaijan and other states to be sent to European states through that pipeline. This would both increase the role of Azerbaijan and Turkiye in Europe’s energy security, and increase the political importance of the two countries.”
Mammadov stated that with the TANAP project, Turkiye has ceased to be an energy corridor between the east and the west and has reached the level of an “energy hub”. “With TANAP, while Azerbaijan was delivering its energy to the West with a reliable partner, Turkiye gained a reliable partner for its own energy security and played a critical role in the energy security of the European Union. Thus, both countries and Europe benefited from this cooperation. Developments in the international arena further increased the importance of TANAP.”
$20 billion investment from SOCAR in the energy sector in Turkiye
Regarding Azerbaijan’s investments in Turkiye’s energy sector, Ambassador Mammadov said, “In addition to these mega projects, the bilateral investment amount of Azerbaijan’s state company SOCAR to the energy sector in Turkiye is around $20 billion. is one of the suppliers of gas and petroleum products and has extensive cooperation with Turkish companies, TPAO and BOTAS.”
Drawing attention to the cooperation between SOCAR and TPAO in the exploration and production of hydrocarbon deposits, Mammadov said that TPAO is interested in Safak-Asiman, Karabakh and some other projects in Azerbaijan.
Work continues for the Igdir-Nahcivan Natural Gas Pipeline
Mammadov pointed out that the construction of a natural gas pipeline between Igdir and Azerbaijan’s Nakhchivan region is among the future projects, “Necessary steps are being taken towards the implementation of this project, whose foundations were laid with the memorandum of understanding signed in 2020 and which will have a gas transport volume of 500 million cubic meters per year.”
Source: AA / Prepared by Irem Yildiz