Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Fatih Donmez said that increasing the capacity of the Trans-Anatolian Gas Pipeline (TANAP) is on the agenda. “We support the increase in capacity as a country. There are similar requirements from Europe. We hope that new capacity will be provided to Europe through TANAP.”

Donmez said this at a press conference after the 8th meeting of the Advisory Council of the Southern Gas Corridor, which he attended in the capital Baku. He noted that TANAP is one of the major projects that contribute to ensuring the security of energy supplies not only to Turkey, but also to Europe.

“Currently, the annual flow is 16 billion cubic meters. We use 6 billion cubic meters of this in Turkey, the remaining 10 billion cubic meters go to Greece, Albania and Italy,” Donmez said.

“When designing the gas pipeline, it was planned that its capacity would be 31 billion cubic meters per year. This increase will be made in line with future supply and demand,” he continued, noting that “a new resource with a transitional project will appear in the countries of the region.”

At the same time, Donmez referred to the Minister of Energy of Azerbaijan, who said that they plan to start production at the Dostluk gas field, which will be operated jointly with Turkmenistan.

“We also have a longstanding friendship and natural gas agreement with Turkmenistan, but so far we have not been able to find a suitable route and pipeline. Perhaps in the coming years, when the project with the passage through the Caspian Sea is implemented, the countries of the region will have a new source,” Donmez concluded.