BP officials discuss TAP project in Albania

TIRANA, July 16 – The BP-led Shah Deniz consortium in Azerbaijan which will decide on the project carrying Caspian gas to Western Europe says Albania, Italy and Greece need to increase cooperation on the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP). During a visit to Albania last week, BP’s Shah Deniz development vice-president Al Cook said that it is important Albania, Italy and Greece sign the intergovernmental and host government agreements.
BP and Azerbaijan, through SOCAR (the State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan) target investing in the TAP consortium in order to support the project, he added.
Prime Minister Sali Berisha assured the BP representative Albania was committed to closely cooperate with its neighbours and finalize the legal and regulatory framework on TAP, as a project with mutual interest for all three countries.
Shah Deniz II consortium, led by BP (BP.L) and Statoil (STL.OL), has recently selected the Nabucco West pipeline as one of two possible routes to carry Caspian gas to Western Europe.
“The Nabucco West project, with a route running from the Turkish-Bulgarian border to Baumgarten (in Austria), has been selected as the single pipeline option for the potential export of Shah Deniz Stage II gas to Central Europe,” BP said in a statement.
In February, the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) was selected for a possible southern route, beating off competition from another rival, ITGI.
Next year Shah Deniz II will decide on the entire route for its gas and whether it wants to ship via the southern route through Italy or the northern route via Hungary and Austria.
TAP is the only project including Albania in its route. Albanian experts have described TAP as an opportunity that would benefit Albania both economically and politically, making it an important hub of the international gas pipeline for the Western Balkans.
“TAP remains the most advanced of the two projects, especially in terms of financing and permitting. We believe that its clear economic, commercial, technical and strategic advantages make TAP the strongest contender in this competition and the best option for both Europe and Azerbaijan,” representatives of the consortium say.
Germany’s E.ON Ruhrgas, Norwegian energy company Statoil and Swiss-based EGL group have established a joint venture company to develop and operate the Trans Adriatic Pipeline.
TAP aims to become operational in 2017 and would carry 10 billion cubic metres (bcm) of Caspian gas a year and be scalable to a maximum capacity of 20 bcm.