Baku, Azerbaijan, March 25. Global law firm
Freshfields advises bp on its agreement for Apollo-managed funds to
purchase a 25% non-controlling stake in BP Pipelines (TANAP)
Limited (‘bp TANAP’), the bp subsidiary that holds bp’s 12%
interest in TANAP Doğalgaz İletim A.Ş., the owner and operator of
the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (‘TANAP’), Trend reports via
Freshfields.
Under the agreement, Apollo funds will purchase the
non-controlling shareholding in bp TANAP for approximately $1.0bn.
The transaction is anticipated to close in 2Q 2025, subject to
regulatory and TANAP shareholders approvals.
bp and Apollo have recently announced that they have reached
agreements for Apollo managed funds to purchase a 25%
non-controlling stake in BP Pipelines (TANAP) Ltd – bp TANAP – the
bp subsidiary that holds bp’s 12% interest in TANAP, owner and
operator of the pipeline that carries natural gas from Azerbaijan
across Türkiye.
Under the agreement, Apollo funds will purchase the
non-controlling shareholding in bp TANAP for a consideration of
approximately $1.0 billion. Proceeds arising from this transaction
will contribute towards bp’s program for $20 billion in divestment
and other proceeds.
While the deal enables bp to monetise its interest in TANAP, bp
will remain the controlling shareholder of bp TANAP and retain a
long-term commercial and strategic interest, including governance
rights, in the pipeline – a vital part of the gas value chain for
the bp-operated Shah Deniz gas field in Azerbaijan.
The transaction is anticipated to close in 2Q 2025, subject to
regulatory and TANAP shareholders approvals.
TANAP transports gas from Stage 2 of Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz
field from the Georgian-Turkish border to Türkiye’s western border.
The total cost of TANAP turned out to be lower than $7 billion.
The initial capacity of TANAP is 16 billion cubic meters of gas
per year, with the possibility of expanding to 31 billion cubic
meters per year in the future. Around six billion cubic meters of
gas are delivered to Türkiye, while the rest of the volume is
supplied to Europe.
The filling of the TANAP pipeline across Türkiye began in late
January 2018.
A ceremony to launch Phase 0 of TANAP took place on June 12,
2018, in the Turkish city of Eskisehir. First commercial gas
deliveries to Türkiye commenced on June 30, 2018. The opening
ceremony of TANAP’s connecting with Europe took place on Nov. 30,
2019, in Ipsala town (Edirne province, Türkiye).
For expansion, it is necessary to add several additional
compressor stations in order to achieve a throughput of 24 billion
cubic meters per year. To achieve a capacity of 31 billion cubic
meters, a total of seven compressor stations will be required.