Istanbul, Turkey, Dec.7
By Abbas Akhundov - Trend:
The Ionian Adriatic pipeline project (IAP) will get a concrete delineation after 2020, a senior representative of Azerbaijani State Oil Company (SOCAR) told Trend.
"The further increase of gas production in Azerbaijan outside the Shah Deniz field will demand new sales market. Therefore, alongside with the Turkish market that will probably emerge following the increase of this country's demand for gas, we need new markets.
Turkey will not be able to meet all our demand for marketing," the representative said.
Given that the Shah Deniz consortium chose the Trans-Adriatic pipeline project for implementation of sales to Europe, it is natural to continue this project through implementation of IAP project, according to the representative.
"IAP starts in Albania and runs to the North through Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and beyond, perhaps to Slovenia and through Slovenia to northern Italy or Switzerland. Therefore, all the neighboring countries of Albania now are interested in working out the issues, submit applications for the purchase of gas, to create more practical plans for expanding their gas infrastructure. The IAP will get a concrete delineation after 2020-2022," the SOCAR representative said.
IAP project envisages the construction of a pipeline in Western Balkans. TAP has already signed memorandums of understanding and cooperation with the developers of this project, in particular with companies of Plinacro (Croatia), BH-Gas (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Geoplin Plinovodi (Slovenia), as well as with the governments of Montenegro and Albania.
There has been created a TAP-IAP joint working group that gathers regularly to synchronize the timing both pipeline projects and coordinate the technical issues of interconnection.
A consortium of Azerbaijani Shah Deniz gas condensate field development announced its choice of the TAP project in late June, as a gas transportation route to the European markets. The gas which will be produced in the second phase of Shah Deniz field, is considered as the main source of the project.
The initial capacity of the TAP pipeline will be 10 billion cubic meters per year with the possibility of expanding to 20 billion cubic meters per year.