TANAP gas pipeline to be commissioned on June 12

The Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline (TANAP) will be launched on June 12 this year. The head of the Turkish Energy Ministry Berat Albayrak said this on Friday, May 11, Anadolu news agency reported.

"Putting TANAP into operation is a guarantee of continuation of Ankara's active energy policy," he said. Presidents of Turkey and Azerbaijan - Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Ilham Aliyev will take part in the ceremony of launching the new gas pipeline, he said.

Albayrak compared the projects of TANAP and Nabucco. "Discussions on the implementation of Nabucco continued for many years, but progress was not achieved. At the same time, thanks to the cooperation between Turkey and Azerbaijan, the implementation of the Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline construction project is nearing its end, "the minister said. In the summer of this year, Turkey will begin deep-sea drilling in the Mediterranean, he added.

The initial throughput capacity of the TANAP gas pipeline will be 16 billion cubic meters per year. About six billion cubic meters will be supplied to Turkey, and the rest to Europe.

On April 30, the Russian concern Gazprom announced the completion of the construction of the sea section of the first thread of the Turkish Stream.

In February, vice president of Socar Azerbaijan Vitaly Beglyarbekov in an interview with Reuters confirmed that gas exports to Europe via TANAP will begin in the coming years. "YUGK (Southern Gas Corridor - note" Lenty.ru ") will be launched on time - in 2020," he said. Gas supplies to Turkey for TANAP will begin in early July this year, said Beglyarbekov.

TANAP is an alternative to the Russian gas supply to Europe project - the Turkish Stream pipeline. The Trans-Anatolian pipeline is part of the Southern Gas Corridor. It is assumed that it will be supplied with fuel from the Caspian region through Georgia and Turkey to the EU countries.