Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 4
By Aygun Badalova - Trend:
Greek government supports the construction of the Trans Adriatic pipeline (TAP), however wants to get more benefits from gas transit through Greece's territory, TASS reports citing the country's new minister of Production Reconstruction, Environment and Energy Panagiotis Lafazanis.
"We have concerns about the conditions of transit through the Transadriatic pipeline regarding Greek interests," the minister said.
At the same time he stressed that he government supports the project.
"We support the project and the fact that the pipeline will cross the territory of Greece, because it will contribute to the country's energy security," Lafazanis said.
He said that the government will strive to increase benefits from TAP for Greece and Azerbaijan.
"There will be discussions in order to get the best results", Lafazanis said, adding that Greek government aims at strengthening relations with Azerbaijan in all spheres.
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.
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Aygun Badalova is Trend Agency's staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @AygunBadalova