The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) and the Turkish Petroleum Pipeline Corporation (BOTAŞ) will set up a joint venture (JV) to operate the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP), a 1,850 km gas pipeline interconnection project designed to ship gas from the Shah Deniz 2 gas field in Azerbaijan and Europe through Turkey. SOCAR and BOTAŞ will each own 50% in the project and are not considering inviting a third partner yet. Commercial gas shipping from the Shah Deniz field will start in in June 2018 and BOTAŞ will start supplying gas from the Eskişehir section - already completed - as of 1 July 2018.
The project received a €932m financing package from the European Investment Bank in March 2018. As a key component of the Southern Gas Corridor, it aims at improving the European gas supply security and has also secured funds from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the World Bank and Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank (AIIB).