Turkey, Azerbaijan sign gas pipeline deal

[June 27, 2012]  ANKARA, Turkey (AP) -- Turkey and Azerbaijan have signed an agreement to build a pipeline to transport Azeri gas to Europe through Turkey.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said after the signing ceremony Tuesday that the project is key for Europe to diversify energy supply routes.

The Trans Anadolu pipeline deal is expected to help reduce the European Union's reliance on Russian deliveries in particular.

The pipeline will have a carrying capacity of 16 billion cubic meters (565 billion cubic feet) per year. Erdogan says Turkey will have access to up to 10 billion cubic meters (353 billion cubic feet).

A consortium for an EU-backed project, Nabucco, in May proposed to carry the Azeri gas from the Turkish-Bulgarian border to Austria. The project was originally designed to bring gas from Azerbaijan directly.

[Associated Press]

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