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Trans Adriatic Pipeline expansion, dream or reality?

Oil&Gas Materials 14 September 2020 11:44 (UTC +04:00)
Trans Adriatic Pipeline expansion, dream or reality?

BAKU, Azerbaijan, Sept.14

By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:

Prospects for the expansion of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) remain uncertain, Trend reports citing S&P Global Platts.

“The TAP pipeline has been designed to be built in two phases of 10 Bcm/year each. Only the first phase is now being completed and prospects for expansion remain uncertain.

“After running a successful non-binding market test in its development phase 2 in the summer of 2019, the developer of TAP cancelled a binding phase expected for Q2 2020 and postponed it until July 2021 due to “changed market conditions”. The move has cast some doubt on the developer’s intention of expanding TAP capacity according to the original plan. Without a further expansion, the originally envisaged impact of TAP volumes on Europe’s gas market will be lessened,” reads a report released by S&P Global Platts.

TAP project, worth 4.5 billion euros, is one of the priority energy projects for the European Union (EU). 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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Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn

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