Azerbaijan, Baku, May 16 / Trend A.Badalova /
Germany's E.ON Ruhrgas, which is a shareholder in Trans Adriatic Pipeline, would welcome an Italian partner in the project, Reuters reported with reference to the company CEO Klaus Schaefer.
"We would clearly welcome an Italian partner or one coming from one of the countries the pipeline passes through," he said at the Reuters Energy and Environment Summit in London.
TAP is one of the Southern Gas Corridor projects, designed to transport gas from the Caspian region via Greece and Albania and across the Adriatic Sea to southern Italy and further into Western Europe. Gas to be produced within the second phase of Azerbaijani Shah Deniz gas condensate field development is considered as the main source for TAP.
In February Shah Deniz Consortium announced TAP as a priority route for export of the Azerbaijani gas to Italy.
The current shareholders of TAP project are EGL of Switzerland (42.5 percent), Norway's Statoil (42.5 percent) and E.ON Ruhrgas of Germany (15 percent).
Earlier Italian Enel expressed an interest in participation in TAP project. At the same time TAP official stated that the project welcomes any new shareholder that can bring added value to the project and further strengthen the Shah Deniz decision to select TAP as the pipeline to bring gas through Greece and Albania to Italy.
Schaefer stressed the need for a flexible supply contract to ensure the Azerbaijani gas to be delivered to Europe is attractive to buyers.
According to Schaefer, the supply contract needs to be competitive and has the right formula to be quickly adaptable to changing market conditions.