Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that it is “only a matter of time” before gas from Turkmenistan is exported to Turkey and Europe through the expanded Trans-Anatolian Gas Pipeline (TANAP) project.
“Our long-standing cooperation, crowned with infrastructure investments such as Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan, Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum pipelines, and TANAP, has not only benefited Turkey and Azerbaijan but has also made significant contributions to the energy security of the region and Europe,” Erdogan said at the International Caspian Oil and Gas Exhibition in Azerbaijan’s capital of Baku.
Two gas routes from Turkmenistan to Azerbaijan are being reported. The Turkish Daily Sabah reports that this plan involves transporting gas by sea on gas carrying ships. Upstream, citing experts, reports that SOCAR will start negotiations with Turkmenistan on the resumption of gas supply through Iran under the exchange scheme.
On June 4th, Turkey’s Botas Petroleum Pipeline and Azerbaijan’s SOCAR also signed agreements to promote an intergovernmental deal calling for cooperation on natural gas issues reached in May.
In one of the five signed contracts, Botash and SOCAR must jointly organize the natural gas supply from Turkmenistan to Azerbaijan and then through Turkey to other countries.
