TAP continues working with Ionian Adriatic Pipeline developers

Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 5 By Aygun Badalova - Trend: Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) continues working with the developers of the Ionian Adriatic Pipeline (IAP) - a proposed gas pipeline in Western Balkans, TAP representative told Trend. "TAP continues to work closely with the developers of the Ionian Adriatic Pipeline (IAP) on interconnection and alignment," TAP representative wrote Trend via e-mail. TAP project is designed to transport gas from the Caspian region via Greece and Albania and across the Adriatic Sea to southern Italy and then to Western Europe. The gas which will be produced in the second phase of Azerbaijani Shah Deniz field development, is considered as the main source of the project. TAP has already signed memorandums of understanding and cooperation with developers of the IAP project, including Plinacro (Croatia), BH-Gas (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Geoplin Plinovodi (Slovenia), as well as with the governments of Montenegro and Albania. Earlier the spokesperson in TAP told Trend that a TAP-IAP joint working group gathers regularly to align the schedules of both pipeline projects and technical issues of interconnection. In late October Bloomberg reported with the reference to Croatian Deputy Foreign Minister Josko Klisovic that Croatia, Hungary and Ukraine agreed to expand their existing pipelines to create a corridor that will carry natural gas through the three countries and connect to TAP in Europe's south. According to Klisovic, in Croatia, the corridor would be connected to a planned liquefied natural-gas terminal on the island of Krk, as well as to the planned link to the TAP pipe in the south. "We welcome any regional initiatives aimed at promoting the energy cooperation and facilitating the energy security and diversity in South Eastern Europe," TAP representative said. In late June the Shah Deniz Consortium selected TAP as a gas transportation route to European markets. Nabucco West was the second pipeline, which was competed for the transportation of Azerbaijani gas to Europe. The construction of TAP is planned to start in 2015. The initial capacity of the TAP pipeline will be 10 billion cubic meters per year with the possibility of expanding to 20 billion cubic meters per year. TAP shareholders are BP (20 percent), SOCAR (20 percent), Statoil (20 percent), Fluxys (16 percent), Total (10 percent), E.ON (9 percent) and Axpo (5 percent).