The ceremony was attended by Azerbaijan’s Industry and Energy Ministry and Turkey’s Energy and Natural Resources Ministry, with the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by Azerbaijani Industry and Energy Minister Natig Aliyev and Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Taner Yildiz.

The Trans-Anadolu pipeline will extend approximately 2,000 km according to Bloomberg, citing documents distributed before the signing ceremony in Ankara. In their meeting, Mr Aliyev and Mr Yildiz said that the project is envisaged to transport gas produced from the Shah Deniz II field to Europe, passing through Georgia and Turkey.

The pipeline will transport 16 Bcm/a of Azerbaijani gas through Turkey, with 6 Bcm/a allocated for Turkey’s domestic use and the remaining 10 Bcm/a exported to Europe.

Under the MoU, the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic, and Turkey’s BOTAŞ and Turkish Petroleum Corporation will become the first members of the pipeline consortium. Third-party international oil and natural gas companies will be allowed to join the consortium later during the construction process.