Trans Adriatic Pipeline AG, a joint venture between BP PLC, the State Oil Co. of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR), Snam SPA, Fluxys SA, Enagas SA, and Axpo Holding AG, awarded Saipem a pipelay contract for the 105-km offshore section of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) natural gas transport system. The engineering, procurement, construction, and installation (EPCI) contract involves installation of a gas pipeline between Albania and Italy, across the Adriatic Sea.
Specific activities beyond installing the 36-in. OD pipeline include marine surveys, supply and installation of an offshore fiber optic cable, precommissioning activities, and civil works at landfall in both Albania and Italy. The landfall in Italy is at San Foca, Puglia, and will use micro-tunnelling.
Offshore installation, which at its deepest will reach 820-m water depths, will begin this year using Saipem’s semisubmersible pipelay vessel Castoro Sei and its trench-pipelay barge Castoro 10.
The Shah Deniz II consortium in June 2013 selected TAP as its European transport option. TAP will move as much as 20-billion cu m/year of natural gas from Shah Deniz II through Greece and Albania to Italy, from where it can be shipped further into Western Europe, with service expected to begin in 2018.
