Shareholders in the Trans Adriatic Pipeline passed a resolution to construct the natural gas pipeline following the announcement Dec. 17 by the Shah Deniz Consortium that it has taken the final investment decision on the Shah Deniz Stage II project (OGJ Online, Dec. 17, 2013). The consortium earlier this year selected TAP as the preferred pipeline project to move Shah Deniz Stage II gas to Europe (OGJ Online, June 26, 2013).
The 870-km TAP will transport as much as 20 billion cu m/year of gas, connecting with the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) near the Turkish-Greek border at Kipoi, before crossing Greece, Albania, and the Adriatic Sea, and making landfall in southern Italy.
TAP’s routing will allow gas supply to several southeastern European countries, including Bulgaria, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Croatia. From Italy, Caspian gas can move to markets such as Germany, France, the UK, Switzerland, and Austria.
TAP targets first gas sales to Georgia and Turkey in late 2018, with first deliveries to Europe following roughly 1 year later.
The pipeline’s shareholders are BP PLC 20%, State Oil Co. of Azerbaijan Republic 20%, Statoil ASA 20%, Fluxys 16%, Total SA 10%, E.On AG 9%, and Axpo 5%.