The 1850 km Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP), the main segment of the EU's long-sought Southern Gas Corridor, has been completed and ready to export Azeri gas to Europe, TANAP said this past Monday.

Due to efficient management TANAP said that the development, originally estimated to cost nearly $12 billion, was around $7 billion in the end.

Supply began last June, and will ramp up from 2 Bcm in its first year of operation, to 4 Bcm in its second year and the contracted 6 Bcm/yr in its third year. Azerbaijan's Trend news agency reported at the end of May that to date 1.9 Bcm had been supplied to Turkey through TANAP.

The Trans-Anatolian Pipeline is the central element of the so-called Southern Gas Corridor, an initiative of the European Commission from 2008, aimed at reducing energy dependence on Russia and diversifying natural gas imports by establishing a gas route from the Caspian gas fields to Europe.

The corridor consists of three main elements: the South Caucasus Pipeline (SCP) running form Azerbaijan’s giant Shah Deniz gas field through Georgia to Turkey, TANAP running through Turkey to Greece and Bulgaria, and the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline.