“Its current budget of $8 billion in 2018 terms is a 32 percent decrease from the initial $11.7 billion estimate. This is thanks to a combination of good timing – contracting in the commodity and currency downturn – and best practice in an established pipeline corridor,” Offshore Energy Today quoted Morrison as saying.

He added that for the TANAP partners, delivering on the agreed timeline was always the main objective. “This has looked increasingly assured since the groundbreaking ceremony in 2015.”

“TANAP’s commissioning is a giant leap towards Turkey’s ambition of becoming a gas transit hub,” said Morrison.

A ceremony to launch TANAP took place June 12 in the Turkish city of Eskisehir.

TANAP, together with Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), is a part of the Southern Gas Corridor, which provides for the transportation of gas from the Azerbaijani field Shah Deniz to Europe.

The initial capacity of TANAP is expected to be 16 billion cubic meters of gas per year. About six billion cubic meters will be supplied to Turkey, and the rest to Europe. After completion of the TAP, the gas will reach Europe in early 2020.

The share distribution in TANAP is as follows: Southern Gas Corridor CJSC - 51 percent, SOCAR Turkey Enerji - 7 percent, Botas - 30 percent, and BP - 12 percent.

The launching ceremony of the first stage of the Southern Gas Corridor project was held in Baku on May 29.

The gas from the Azerbaijani Shah Deniz field has already gone through the first segment of the Southern Gas Corridor - from the Sangachal terminal to the expanded South Caucasus Pipeline.

The Southern Gas Corridor, which costs more than $40 billion, is one of the priority projects for the EU and provides for the transportation of 10 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas from the Caspian region through Georgia and Turkey to Europe.

More about: #TANAP