Azerbaijan mulls enlargement of gas transit capacity

Azerbaijan is considering enlargement of its gas transit capacity by operating the transportation of Iranian gas through its territory to Europe, Azerbaijani Deputy Minister of Energy Natig Abbasov said here on Monday.

"It will be possible through Iran's joining the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) project," Abbasov said at the First Eurasian Conference organized by the International Association for Energy Economics in Baku.

The official also did not rule out the possibility that Iran might join the project for Azerbaijani gas exports to Europe and use the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline.

The Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline is a natural gas pipeline starting from Azerbaijan and running through Georgia and Turkey to Europe. It is a central part of the Southern Gas Corridor, which will connect the giant Shah Deniz gas field in Azerbaijan to Europe through the South Caucasus Pipeline, TANAP and the Trans Adriatic Pipeline.

The pipeline has been designed to carry 16 billion cubic meters of gas a year from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz II field in the Caspian Sea, one of the world's largest gas fields developed by a BP-led consortium.

The project was inaugurated in March 2015, and is expected to be completed by the end of 2018 in order to start deliveries of gas from Shah Deniz II to Europe in 2019-2020.

Azerbaijani state energy firm SOCAR holds a 58 percent stake in TANAP while Turkish pipeline firm Botas raised its stake to 30 percent from 20 percent in 2014. The BP acquired a 12 percent stake in the project in March, 2015. Endi