Turkey’s Energy and Natural Resources Minister Taner Yildiz reportedly said his country plans to buy a share of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) gas project using Turkish state pipeline company BOTAS. “Earlier TAP Consortium proposed to BOTAS a 15% share in the project. Now we intend to consider the proposal again,” Yildiz reportedly said.
The 10-billion-cubic-metre TAP pipeline will bring natural gas from Azerbaijan to Western European markets. It will connect with Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) near the Turkish-Greek border at Kipoi, across Greece and Albania and the Adriatic Sea, before coming ashore in southern Italy. SOCAR owned 80% and Turkey 20% share in the TANAP project at the beginning, but SOCAR sold later 29% of its share to BP, Statoil and Total, all of which have shares in Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz II Consortium. TAP shareholders are BP (20%), SOCAR (20%), Statoil (20%), Fluxys (16%), Total (10%), EON (9%) and Axpo (5%).
Asked if TAP is in discussions with BOTAS for a share in the pipeline, TAP told New Europe in an e-mailed statement on 5 September that “shareholders have stated that they remain open to new shareholders that can provide added strategic value to the development of the TAP pipeline project”.
Gokhan Yardim, former general director of BOTAS, told New Europe on 5 September by phone from Ankara that Turkey wants to have some shares in the TAP project – “not much but for strategic purposes”. He reminded that BOTAS has a 16% share in the Nabucco project, which could also had be used for gas trading in the future in Europe. But the shareowners of Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz consortium decided to move ahead with TAP in June. “Turkey doesn’t have any shares in TAP,” he said.
“Maybe there could be a possibility to make a trade in Europe through TAP. In TAP 15% of the capacity is going to be dedicated for the shareholders. So if BOTAS had a share in TAP they could use this capacity for making trade and for selling gas,” Yardim said. However, he noted that at the time being Turkey has signed contracts that allow it to re-export only Azerbaijani gas and Nigerian liquefied natural gas (LNG). BOTAS cannot re-export Russian and Iranian gas or Algerian LNG. He also stressed that Turkey would need more gas in the future.
“Turkey used all their cards in the TANAP project and that’s all,” Yardim said. “Turkey doesn’t have any more cards left to play in the TAP project or the gas trade,” he said. “If BOTAS or Turkey was a shareholder in TAP it would mean that the capacity would be automatically received by Turkey or by BOTAS,” he said.
He also repeated the idea of creating a gas pricing hub between Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey. “Whether Turkey gets any shares or not the trade house between Turkey, Greece and Bulgaria could be a good opportunity,” Yardim said, adding that the gas trading hub would most probably be based in Greece.
Regarding Russia’s reaction to TAP, sources told New Europe that Moscow “is playing the South Stream [gas pipeline] card. They don’t care about TAP. I think there is some common understanding between the Russians and Azeris”.
