Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan.31
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
Russian hopes to use the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) go counter to the purpose of the project to diversify European gas imports away from Russian gas, Agnia Grigas, energy and political risks expert, non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, told Trend Jan.31.
She was commenting on the statement earlier made by deputy CEO of Russia’s Gazprom company Alexander Medvedev that the company is discussing the possibility of using Poseidon and TAP to export gas to Europe.
“There were hopes that TAP would be filled not only with Azerbaijani gas, but also in the future with Turkmen gas and thus, Moscow seeks to be the one that fills TAP pipeline capacity,” added the expert.
Moreover, Grigas believes that this new Moscow’s strategy could imply that its plans to implement Turkish Stream project are likely to be delayed and thus it would prefer to access the southern European market via alternative infrastructure.
TAP is a part of the Southern Gas Corridor which is one of the priority energy projects for the EU.
TAP project envisages transportation of gas from the Stage 2 of development of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz gas and condensate field to the EU countries.
The pipeline will be connected to the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) on the Turkish-Greek border, run through Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea, before coming ashore in Italy's south.
TAP’s shareholders are: BP (20 percent), State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (20 percent), Snam (20 percent), Fluxys (19 percent), Enagas (16 percent) and Axpo (5 percent).
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