Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 3
Trend: In preparation for construction and marking the construction phase of the project, Trans Adriatic Pipeline AG (TAP) has strengthened its project management team, hiring Norman Ingram as Project Director and Martin Mair as Operations Director, TAP reported on February 3.
Norman Ingram joins TAP from BG Group in Queensland, Australia where he held the position of Pipelines Project Director, leading the Queensland QCLNG pipeline construction, commissioning and start-up. A civil engineer by background, Norman spent over two decades with BP holding several executive management roles, including Project Director, Technical Director and Project Manager in locations such as Turkey, Azerbaijan and Alaska. During his six year assignment in Azerbaijan, Norman had several roles with Shah Deniz Phase 1, in relation to the construction and commissioning of the South Caucasus Pipeline and also involving the Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan Pipeline.
Martin Mair joins TAP from Al Hosn Gas, which undertakes the field development and operation of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) sour gas fields. Martin served with Al Hosn Gas as Production Manager / VP Production, with full delegated authority as Senior Vice President Operations. Prior to this, he served as the Al Hosn Gas Vice President Operations for the Shah field development.
The TAP project was selected by the consortium of Azerbaijani Shah Deniz field development as the transportation route to the European markets. The approximately 870 km long pipeline will connect with the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) near the Turkish-Greek border at Kipoi, cross Greece and Albania and the Adriatic Sea, before coming ashore in Southern Italy.
TAP's shareholding is comprised of BP (20 percent), SOCAR (20 percent), Statoil (20 percent), Fluxys (19 percent), Enagás (16 percent) and Axpo (five percent). Construction of TAP is planned to begin in 2016. The initial capacity of TAP will be 10 billion cubic meters per year, but it can easily be expanded to 20 billion cubic meters per year as the new volumes of gas come on stream.
The first sales of Azerbaijani gas to Georgia and Turkey are targeted for late 2018, first deliveries to Europe will follow approximately a year later.