Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline

Bulgaria's state energy holding BEH and Greek-Italian joint venture ISI Poseidon signed on Dec. 10 a key investment deal to build a new pipeline linking Bulgaria and Greece's gas networks, officials said.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has announced Turkey and Azerbaijan's intentions to complete the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) ahead of schedule.

Initial estimates had suggested the project would be completed by 2018.

Turkey has agreed with Azerbaijan to accelerate the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP), with an aim to have the gas project completed before the planned 2018, Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu said on Dec. 3, as quoted by Reuters.

The Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) will create more than 15,000 new jobs and make a great economic contribution to the participating countries, according to the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (Socar), which is conducting the project. 

The Star Refinery, the first oil refinery project in Turkey since 1975, will be online by March 2018, a $5.6 billion investment that will help decrease the country's current account gap by $2.5 billion annually, cutting Turkey's dependence on imported refined oil products, said the SOCAR Turkey CEO and board member of Petkim Petrochemical Holding, Kenan Yavuz. 

Turkish Minister Taner Y?ld?z said it is not possible for Turkey to cancel the construction of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant as the project has been made upon an intergovernmental agreement between Turkey and Russia, in contrary to the opposition parties' claims. 

Azerbaijan's Energy Minister Natiq Aliyev has said Azeri gas will reach Europe by 2020.

Speaking at a panel discussion at the Energy Security Conference in Berlin on May 7, Aliyev said a quarter of the construction on the Southern Gas Corridor had been completed.

Turkey and its partners in the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) will hold talks with "one or two" foreign companies for possible partnerships, Turkey's Energy Minister said on May 4.

Energy Minister Taner Y?ld?z said he could not name the companies involved, as they were publicly traded in an energy panel in Istanbul. 

EU energy boss Maros Sefcovic said late on April 30 that Europe could import natural gas from ex-Soviet Turkmenistan via Iran as Brussels ramps up efforts to break its dependence on Russian-sourced energy.

Bulgaria, which aims to reduce its almost total dependence on Russian gas supplies, will soon publish details of a licensing round to open the Silistar and Teres oil and gas blocks in the Black Sea, a senior government official has said.