Azerbaijan, Baku, Jan. 29 / Trend A.Badalova/
Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) continues to cooperate with Croatia's Plinacro, which is one of the Ionian Adriatic Pipeline (IAP) developers, in order to successfully develop these two projects, TAP official told Trend.
"TAP continues to cooperate with Plinacro with the aim to successfully develop our two projects and thereby increase security of supply of the region by connecting to new sources of gas," TAP official wrote Trend via e-mail.
In February, 2011 TAP and Plinacro Ltd., a natural gas transmission system operator in Croatia, signed a Memorandum of Understanding and Cooperation (MOUC) aimed at encouraging the development of natural gas markets in South East Europe (SEE).
Later TAP signed similar agreement with other IAP project developer, Bosnian system operator BH-Gas.
In January, 2013, Plinacro signed a deal for construction of South Stream gas pipeline's Croatian section with Russia's Gazprom.
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. Gas to be produced within the second phase of Azerbaijani Shah Deniz gas condensate field development is considered as the main source for TAP.
TAP's initial pipeline capacity will be 10 billion cubic metres per year, but is easily expandable to 20 billion cubic metres per year. TAP's shareholders are AXPO of Switzerland (42.5 percent), Norway's Statoil (42.5 percent) and E.ON Ruhrgas of Germany (15 percent).
IAP is a proposed gas pipeline in Western Balkans.
According to TAP's expectations, besides bringing gas into Italy and the opportunity to supply the Greek market, TAP may also provide Azerbaijani gas with the access to such markets as Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and etc. by connecting TAP to IAP.