Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec.25
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
Supply of gas from the Caspian Sea region to Europe, including Italy through the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) will be timely, said a message from TAP AG consortium.
“Around 90 percent of natural gas consumption in Italy comes from imports. Gas consumption in Italy in reached 70.9 billion cubic meters in 2016. The first half of 2017 has already recorded a 17.3 percent increase in the country’s gas consumption compared to the same period in 2016 and it will continue to grow,” said the message.
Moreover, Italy’s gas supply contracts with Algeria, the Netherlands and Russia will expire by 2020 and therefore, delivery of gas via TAP to Italy will be timely, according to TAP AG.
“Adding a new source and a new route to the existing ones (Russia, Algeria, Libya, the Netherlands and Norway) would significantly strengthen the security of supplies and further diversify the sources of supply. It can also increase competition between sources and reduce logistics costs,” said the message.
TAP worth 4.5 billion euros is a part of the Southern Gas Corridor, which is one of the priority energy projects for the European Union. The project envisages transportation of gas from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz Stage 2 to the EU countries.
The pipeline will connect to the Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) on the Turkish-Greek border, run through Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea, before coming ashore in Italy’s south.
TAP will be 878 kilometers in length (Greece 550 kilometers, Albania 215 kilometers, Adriatic Sea 105 kilometers, and Italy 8 kilometers).
TAP’s shareholding is comprised of BP (20 percent), SOCAR (20 percent), Snam S.p.A. (20 percent), Fluxys (19 percent), Enagás (16 percent) and Axpo (5 percent).
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