Turkey, Azerbaijan sign pipeline deal

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) - Turkey and Azerbaijan have signed an agreement to establish a consortium to build a pipeline to transport Azeri gas to Turkey and Europe.

The two countries' energy ministers on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding for a consortium between Azerbaijan's state energy company SOCAR, Turkey's state-run pipeline company Botas, and the Turkish petroleum company TPAO. The deal allows other oil and gas companies to join the consortium.

The projected pipeline, the Trans Anadolu, will carry gas from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field.

Turkey says the Trans Anadolu project could eventually be connected to the European Union-backed Nabucco pipeline project - aimed at reducing the bloc's dependence on deliveries from Russia.