Turkey, Azerbaijan Will Sign Pipeline Deal Soon

Turkey and Azerbaijan will “soon” agree on construction of a pipeline that will carry natural gas to Europe, potentially rivaling the European Union-backed Nabucco project, an Azeri energy official said.

An intergovernmental agreement on the trans-Anatolia pipeline, also known as TANAP, is expected during Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s planned visit to Baku, State Oil Co. of Azerbaijan President Rovnaq Abdullayev said in an interview on private ANS television today.

The countries signed a memorandum of understanding in December on building the 2,000-km pipeline, estimated to cost 7 billion euros ($9.25 billion). The pipeline, which will have a capacity of 16 billion cubic meters a year, will connect Turkey’s eastern border to the west.

Abdullayev said TANAP will deliver Azeri gas to western Turkey, where the fuel will be taken up by Nabucco or other smaller volume projects that are vying for export rights.

A decision on the transit project is due by the end of the first quarter.