Azerbaijan, Baku, June 3 / Trend, A.Badalova /
Azerbaijan will play an important role in gas supply to Europe, chairman of the Gas Department of the Swiss company EGL (Elektrizitäts-Gesellschaft Laufenburg) Thomas Hesselbarth believes. He said the project of construction of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) is the best way to ensure interests of natural gas producers and consumers, as well as increase the export potential of the " Southern Corridor", within which it is expected to create several pipelines for fuel export to the EU.
"The more export routes, the more profit for producers. Nevertheless, the gas producers should know which route to choose," Hesselbarth said today at the 17th international conference "Caspian Oil and Gas", held in Baku.
Recently, Hesselbarth said that the company E. ON Ruhrgas joined the TAP project. This project remains open to other participants, he stressed.
"We will develop the project in accordance with the European interests, as well as on the principles of transparency and equality of transportation", Hesselbarth said.
The company EGL, founded in 1956 in the Swiss city of Laufenburg, is engaged in gas and power sale. At present, the main office of the company is located in Dietikon (near Zurich) and has offices in over 20 countries of Europe.
Trans-Adriatic pipeline, which is a part of the Southern Corridor, is designed to transport gas from the Caspian region and the Middle East to Europe. The pipeline will begin in Greece, will pass through the territory of Albania and the Adriatic Sea, later to Italy.
The gas pipeline includes a 115-kilometer-underwater section from Albania to Italy. Estimated cost of the project pipeline will be $2.2 billion. The shareholders of the project are Norway's Statoil and Swiss EGL.