Azerbaijan, Baku, July 24 / Trend A. Badalova/
Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) may be linked to Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline (TANAP) or Interconnector Turkey-Greece (ITG) to transport Azerbaijani gas to Europe, Michael Hoffmann, TAP External Affairs and Communications Director told Trend in an e-mail.
He said last month TAP entered into a technical cooperation agreement with the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) and the Shah Deniz consortium.
"In its framework we are currently engaging with them on various technical issues and potential interconnections with TANAP and / or ITG," Hoffmann said.
TANAP project envisages construction of the pipeline from the eastern border of Turkey to the country's western border to supply gas from Azerbaijani Shah Deniz gas field to Europe through Turkey.
On June, 26 Azerbaijan and Turkey signed an intergovernmental agreement on TANAP implementation.
At present, a 20 per cent share in TANAP belongs to Turkish BOTAS, 80 per cent and the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR). The initial capacity of the pipeline is expected to reach 16 billion cubic meters a year.
According to Hoffmann, the intergovernmental agreement (IGA) between Azerbaijan and Turkey on TANAP is very important for TAP.
"This IGA provides for a dedicated gas route across Turkey to the Turkish-Greek border where it will connect to TAP for further transportation of Caspian gas to Europe via Greece, Albania and Italy," Hoffmann said.
Hoffmann stressed that TAP remains confident that it offers the best economic, commercial, technical and strategic advantages to Shah Deniz Consortium as well as to European energy consumers.
TAP, which is one of the projects within the Southern Gas Corridor, is 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, which will be produced during the second stage of Azerbaijani Shah Deniz gas condensate field development, is the main supply source for the project.
Earlier this year Shah Deniz consortium made TAP a priority route for export of Azerbaijani gas to Italy.
TAP's initial pipeline capacity of TAP will be 10 billion cubic metres per year, expandable to 20 billion cubic metres per year. TAP's shareholders are EGL of Switzerland (42.5 percent), Norway's Statoil (42.5 percent) and E.ON Ruhrgas of Germany (15 percent).