Italy’s Snam SPA will acquire from Statoil ASA its 20% stake in Trans Adriatic Pipeline AG (TAP) for €208 million (OGJ Online, Dec. 18, 2013). The transaction is expected to close by yearend. Statoil has been part owner in TAP since 2008, but divested its share of the Shah Deniz gas field in Azerbaijan in 2014.
The 882-km TAP system will be the westernmost section of the Southern Gas Corridor, a 3,500-km gas system linking Shah Deniz Stage II to gas markets in Europe. TAP will connect with the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) at the Greece-Turkey border. It will cross northern Greece, Albania, and the Adriatic Sea before coming onshore in southern Italy, where it will link with the Snam-operated Italian natural gas network (OGJ Online, July 18, 2012).
“TAP is crucial in the diversification of gas sources in Europe through the development of the Southern Corridor from the Republic of Azerbaijan and potentially other countries,” said Carlo Malacarne, Snam’s chief executive officer.