BP, SOCAR and BOTAŞ sign deal on TANAP gas pipeline project

British energy firm BP, Azerbaijan’s energy company SOCAR and Turkish Petroleum Pipeline Corporation BOTAŞ signed a stake-sharing agreement on Friday, March 13, on the Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline, or TANAP, project.

The agreement was signed in Turkey’s capital of Ankara, with Turkey’s Energy and Natural Resources Minister Taner Yıldız, SOCAR’s President Rovnag Abdullayev, BOTAŞ Deputy General Manager Mehmet Konuk, TANAP General Manager Saltuk Duzyov and BP Azerbaijan President Gordon Birrell.

According to the agreement, BP will acquire 12 percent of TANAP project’s stake, while SOCAR will own 58 percent and BOTAŞ will have a 30-percent stake in the project.

Minister Taner Yıldız said in his speech after the ceremony that the project had faced many political and economic obstacles during its development period so far.  “However”, he continued, “Turkey will always fully support the project.”

While answering a question about whether TANAP would be a competitor of the Turkish Stream, Yıldız stated that Turkey has ther ability to conduct many projects simultaneously.

“TANAP is developing in our hands; this is the essence of our existence. We don’t have any policy of creating competition regarding this project.”

He said the decrease in oil prices will not affect the completion of the project.

The TANAP gas pipeline is part of the Southern Gas Corridor, which plans to carry natural gas sourced in Azerbaijan near the Caspian Sea to Europe through Turkey.

Turkey's energy minister said they would emphasize Turkey’s political stability along with many other energy projects. He claimed that without political stability any development in the energy sector was unexpected, and called on opposite parties, NGOs, academicians, cultural figures even the ‘parallel structure’ to protect political stability for better development in Turkey.