Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov. 29 / Trend A.Badalova /
The EU is open-minded about which pipeline - Nabucco West or Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) - would be used to transport the Azerbaijani gas to Europe, Dow Jones reported with the reference to EU Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger.
Speaking at the Frankfurt Gas Forum 2012, Oettinger mentioned that TAP and Nabucco West are vying to carry gas which will be produced during the second stage of Azerbaijani Shah Deniz field development, with TAP aiming at the Italian market, while Nabucco's endpoint is Austria.
According to Oettinger, both projects have political support.
Commissioner added that the EU expects the Shah Deniz consortium to make a final choice on pipeline route in the middle of 2013.
Currently, the Shah Deniz consortium considers two options to deliver its gas to Europe - Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) and Nabucco West. The final decision on a pipeline route will be made in 2013.
Nabucco West is a short-cut version of Nabucco project, which envisages construction of the pipeline from the Turkish-Bulgarian border to Austria.
The project's current shareholders are Bulgarian Energy Holding, Romanian Transgaz, Turkish Botas, Austrian OMV, German RWE and Hungary's FGSZ.
TAP project 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.
TAP's initial pipeline capacity 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).