Three multi-national energy giants, BP, Statoil and Total, have acquired a combined 29% stake from Azeri state energy company SOCAR in the Trans-Anatolian natural gas pipeline project (TANAP).
"SOCAR confirmed its invitation to BP to participate in TANAP, and BP will have a 12% stake, the same stake will go to Statoil, while Total will get 5%," BP-Azerbaijan spokeswoman Tamam Bayatly told the media.
Financial details of the deal have not been released.
Turkey holds a 20% stake in TANAP, which will transport Azeri gas to Turkey and to other markets in Europe, while SOCAR held the remaining 80%, from which it is now selling 29% to the energy companies. Earlier in September, SOCAR first offered BP, Statoil and Total the chance to buy a stake in the project.
Construction of the TANAP pipeline, which will be built from the Turkish-Georgian border to Turkey's border with Europe, is expected to start at the end of 2013 and the project's first phaseº£½Ç³Ô¹ÏÍø™s completion is predicted for the end of 2017 or early 2018.
Edited from various sources by