Baku, Azerbaijan, June 5
By Maksim Tsurkov - Trend:
Azerbaijan's state oil company SOCAR is ready to immediately begin a detailed design of a pipeline in Albania, SOCAR Balkan head Murad Heydarov told Trend.
He said that SOCAR continues to work with Albania within the framework of the Southern Gas Corridor project.
"We are committed to our plan at no charge; as part of our obligations under the interstate memorandum, we will carry out a detailed design of the pipeline between the ending of the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) in Albania and a gas power plant, which is under construction," Heydarov said.
He noted that the pipeline is a priority project for the Albanian government.
"Time of the implementation depends on the Albanian side. We are ready to begin a detailed design tomorrow, and this will not be carried out on the basis of any contract. It is our help to the Albanian government. The pipe itself is completely tied to the TAP implementation schedule," Heydarov said.
TAP project, worth 4.5 billion euros, 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.
Connecting with the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) at the Greek-Turkish border, TAP will cross Northern Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea before coming ashore in Southern Italy to connect to the Italian gas network.
The project is currently in its construction phase, which started in 2016.
Once built, TAP will offer a direct and cost-effective transportation route opening up the vital Southern Gas Corridor, a 3,500-kilometer gas value chain stretching from the Caspian Sea to Europe.
TAP shareholders include 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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