TANAP very important for Georgia

/By AzerNews/

By Mushvig Mehdiyev

It is very important for Georgia to be part of TANAP project, a Georgian official said.

"Gas will be delivered to EU member countries through Georgia. This is a very important project in terms of the EU energy safety. To be part of this project is also very beneficial for Georgia,” Georgian President's Adviser, Giorgi Abashishvili said.

Georgia’s President Giorgi Margvelashvili visited Turkey’s Kars region on March 17 where he joined his Turkish and Azerbaijani counterparts at a ceremony marking the beginning of the $10 billion Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline project.

The new pipeline will run through Georgia to better meet Europe's gas demand thus reducing dependence on Russian gas.

TANAP will pump gas from the vast Azerbaijani Shah Deniz 2 field to Turkish and European Union consumers.

The 1,850 km-length TANAP project, which is due to be completed in 2018, will link the existing South Caucasus Pipeline, which connects Turkey to the Azerbaijani gas fields in the Caspian Sea, through Georgia.

According to a partnership agreement signed last week, Azerbaijan's state energy company, SOCAR and Turkey's Botas will hold 58 percent and 30 percent stakes respectively in the project, while energy giant BP will have a 12 percent share.

The pipeline should help Turkey and EU countries reduce their dependence on gas imports from Russia by exploiting the Shah Deniz 2 field, which according to BP, will produce 16 billion cubic meters of gas per year.