The Italian economic development ministry Monday said a project spearheaded by a local firm to import into the European Union natural gas from the Caspian area is better than its rivals, despite an announcement it has been excluded, The Wall Street Journal quoted Dow Jones as reporting.
In a joint statement with the Greek environment and energy ministry, Italy said the two countries reiterate their support for the Interconnector Turkey-Greece-Italy, or ITGI project, which is being developed by Italy's Edison SpA (EDN.MI) and Greece's gas company DEPA.
Earlier Monday, Shah Deniz, the consortium developing a gas field offshore Azerbaijan, narrowed down its options to carry that gas to Europe, the first major decision in a years-long process that is key for Europe's strategy of diversifying energy supplies.
The consortium has excluded the ITGI pipeline project from those being considered to transport the gas to Europe, energy giant BP PLC (BP), which has a key role in Shah Deniz, said Monday.
This means that another, similar project called Trans-Adriatic Pipeline, or TAP, will be negotiating exclusively to transit the gas from the Caspian to Italy.
Following "recent reports of the state of developments on the negotiations" on the matter, the Italian industry ministry said ITGI is more "advanced and mature," and that it can greatly contribute to opening a gas route in the southern part of the EU.