Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria discuss ITGI project

Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov. 18 /Trend A.Badalova/

Greece discussed with Turkey and Bulgaria the ITGI (Turkey-Greece-Italy pipeline) project, which is one of the three corridors that envisage the delivery of Azerbaijani gas to Europe.

Greek Minister of Environment, Energy and Climate Change Yiorgos Papakonstantinou had meetings with Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Taner Yildiz and Bulgarian Energy Minister Traicho Traikov during the 3rd Black Sea Energy and Economic Forum (BSEEF), organized by the Atlantic Council, EMG reported.

Papakonstantinou said important decisions on ITGI project will be made over the next three months. He expressed the confidence that the necessary work on the project will go ahead.

ITGI is one of the proposed projects within the Southern gas Corridor, which involves gas supplies from the Caspian region and the Middle East to the EU countries. It includes updated Turkish pipeline infrastructure and the Turkey-Greece junction pipeline and IGI. Its planned capacity is 11.8 billion cubic meters per year.

ITGI along the other pipeline projects within the Southern Gas Corridor (Nabucco, TAP) have submitted final proposals to the Azerbaijani side, which will make its decision on preferable transportation route by the end of 2011. Gas, which will be produced within the second phase of Azerbaijani Shah-Deniz gas field development is regarded as the main source for all projects.

The Azerbaijani side is going to deliver 10 billion cubic meters of gas per year to Europe under the Shah Deniz-2 project through the chosen pipeline.

In talks with Traikov, Papakonstantinou was informed that Sofia continued to back construction of the Greek-Bulgarian gas pipeline, a development that would boost the prospects that the ITGI will materialize.