BP confirmed Tuesday an agreement to take a 12 percent stake in a Turkish pipeline carrying Azeri gas to Europe will close by the end of the year.

BP-Azerbaijan in January 2013 signed a framework agreement to take on a 12 percent stake in the Trans-Anatolian natural gas project. The State Oil Co. of Azerbaijan Republic has a majority stake in the pipeline.

"We expect to take a 12 percent stake in TANAP by the end of the year," a BP spokesman confirmed to UPI.

BP has awarded more than $1 billion in development contracts since selecting the Trans-Adriatic pipeline as its option to carry natural gas from the Shah Deniz field off the coast of Azerbaijan last year.

The spokesman said BP is already a shareholder in TAP and the acquisition in TANAP "will complete the chain."

TANAP will transport natural gas from Shah Deniz through Turkey to the Greek border. TAP will carry Shah Deniz gas from there to the European Union.

Both pipelines are part of the so-called Southern Corridor of gas pipelines for Europe meant to break Russia's grip on the region's energy sector. Europe gets about a quarter of its gas needs met by Russia, though most of that runs through the Soviet-era transit network in Ukraine, where geopolitical conflicts present a risk to energy security.

Gas from Shah Deniz could be delivered as early as 2018.