Baku, Azerbaijan, March 11
By Aygun Badalova - Trend:
Greece is seeking to secure benefits from the Transadriatic Pipeline (TAP), Reuters reported citing the Greek energy minister Panagiotis Lafazanis.
"Without questioning our support for TAP, we want offsetting benefits for our country and our people ... which we think is reasonable and fair," Lafazanis told an energy conference.
An energy official told Reuters that cash-strapped Greece might ask for a stake in the pipeline, or charge transit fees.
In February Lafazanis said the Greek government will support the construction of TAP and the Gas Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB) pipeline.
During his visit to Azerbaijan, Lafazanis said that Greece will work on the swiftest possible completion of these projects.
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.