By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:
It will be possible to export the Israeli gas to Europe through Turkey at least after four years, Israel's Consul-General in Istanbul Shai Cohen told the Hurriyet newspaper.
Currently, Israel has a real potential to supply its natural gas to European markets, he added.
The diplomat noted that first of all, the approval of Knesset (Israel's parliament) is needed for starting the supply of Israeli gas to European markets through Turkey.
Earlier, the CEO of Turkish Turcas Petrol A.S. Batu Aksoy said that 15 energy companies have expressed interest in joining the consortium which is planned to be created for transporting the Israeli gas to Europe through Turkey.
Experts believe that even if Israel starts to export its natural gas through Turkey, it will have to use Azerbaijan's TANAP project for this purpose.
TANAP project envisages transportation of gas of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field from Georgian-Turkish border to the western borders of Turkey.
Turkey will get gas in 2018 and after completing the construction of Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), it will be delivered to Europe in early 2020.
Currently, the shareholders of TANAP are: the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) - 58 percent, Botas - 30 percent and BP - 12 percent.
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