ISTANBUL
Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) will ensure Turkey’s energy security and will transform Turkey into an energy hub in the region, says Samir Kerimli, the First Deputy Managing Director of the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) in Turkey.
During his speech at the “TANAP’s Role in Making Turkey an Energy Hub” meeting on Friday, Kerimli stated that with TANAP there is an opportunity for Turkey and Azerbaijan to become key players in the energy sectors of Europe and the Balkans.
“With a yearly natural gas requirement of 600 billion cubic meters, Europe has a natural gas deficit amounting to 100 billion cubic meters every year,” Kerimli said. The TANAP project allows for the transportation of natural gas to be produced in Azerbaijan, Middle Asia, Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean through Turkey to Europe.
“The total cost of the project is $12 billion,” Kerimli stated, adding that, “Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Pipeline project is being widely referred to as the ‘pipeline of the century’, therefore I strongly believe that TANAP will be the 'pipeline of the 21st century'.”
Kerimli underlined that Turkey’s natural gas demand will be increasing by 60 percent in the next 29 years and with TANAP, Azerbaijan aims to assist Turkey to become an energy hub in the region as the cheapest and most strategic gas provider of Turkey.
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