The first gas will be transported through the Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline in 2019, SOCAR head Rovnag Abdullayev said at the 'Caspian Oil and Gas conference 2013' today.
He added that the operations have been held over the gas pipeline project for the last two years. After the project implementation, it will be possible to transport 16 billion cubic meters of gas from Shah Deniz gas condensate field. In the future, its capacity will be increased. This will allow transporting gas from other fields and perspective structures. The construction of the pipeline is planned to be launched next year.
"At present, the work is underway to choose a route of transporting Azerbaijani gas to Europe. The final decision will be made at the end of this month.
Azerbaijan is making its contribution in ensuring the energy security of the region, in particular, energy security of Turkey and Georgia. The operations are underway to increase the country's role in Europe's energy security.
Abdullayev said that Azerbaijan has an opportunity to extract 20 billion cubic meters of gas per year by 2015, excluding the gas injected into the reservoir to maintain pressure.
TAP and Nabucco West, are currently competing over transportation of Azerbaijani gas to the European markets. The gas which will be produced within the second stage of development of Azerbaijani Shah Deniz gas condensate field is considered the main source for these pipeline projects.