Baku, Azerbaijan, June 5
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
In February 2018, TAP completed a 1,820m-long horizontal directional drill for the crossing of the Axios river, Greece, TAP AG consortium said in a message.
Thus, the consortium achieved a world-class engineering feat regarding such a large volume of directed bore pipe in one length.
TAP’s contractor for lots 2 and 3, Bonatti & JP Avax, along with their own drilling contractor, "Horizontal Drilling International (HDI)," provided the expertise and resources to apply best drilling practices for this technically challenging project to be concluded in a most effective and timely fashion, said the message.
Drilling and reaming operations took place between mid-November 2017 and mid-February 2018, using the best equipment for horizontal directional drilling, i.e. a 400-ton rig with reaming tools.
TAP project, worth 4.5 billion euros, is one of the priority energy projects for the European Union. The project envisages transportation of gas from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz Stage 2 to the EU countries.
Connecting with the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) at the Greek-Turkish border, TAP will cross Northern Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea before coming ashore in Southern Italy to connect to the Italian natural gas network.
The project is currently in its construction phase, which started in 2016.
Once built, TAP will offer a direct and cost-effective transportation route opening up the vital Southern Gas Corridor, a 3,500-kilometer long gas value chain stretching from the Caspian Sea to Europe.
TAP shareholders include BP (20 percent), SOCAR (20 percent), Snam S.p.A. (20 percent), Fluxys (19 percent), Enagás (16 percent) and Axpo (5 percent).
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