The tender for the capacity expansion project of the Underground Natural Gas Storage Facility at Lake Tuz (Tuz Gölü), which is estimated to supply 1 billion cubic meters of natural gas every year, is to be held. The deadline for the submission of the prequalification documents was set as Monday, Aug. 4.

The notice regarding the issue was published in the Official Gazette yesterday by Turkey's national oil company, BOTAŞ Petroleum Pipeline Corporation. Accordingly, bidders will be able to make their final applications for the tender for the increase of the natural gas storage capacity up until 3:00 pm on the deadline date.

The companies that fulfill the pre-qualification criteria for the tender will be picked by BOTAŞ in September. The bidders can obtain detailed information on pre-qualification procedures from the BOTAŞ Underground Natural Gas Storage Department. The financing, which will be provided within the scope of application that BOTAŞ made to the World Bank for the increase of the capacity of the Lake Tuz Underground Natural Gas Storage Facility, will be funded jointly by different financial institutions. However, the financing will be governed by the relevant legislation of the World Bank. The Lake Tuz Underground Gas Storage Facility, located in south central Anatolia, was also opened at a grand ceremony with the participation of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım and Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Berat Albayrak in February.

Moreover, the portion of gas required to remain in the cavern to maintain its integrity at the Lake Tuz Underground Natural Gas Storage Facility was also compressed. The underground natural gas facility is the country's latest liquefied natural gas (LNG) investment, which Turkey considers an important channel for its energy supply security.The facility will provide Turkey with 44 million cubic meters of gas on a daily basis. The cost of project has been reported to be $700 million. The World Bank had financed $325 million with an agreement signed in 2006 and another $400 million with another agreement signed in 2014.