BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 8. The amount of gas imported to Europe via the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) in the fourth quarter of 2021 stood at 3.4 billion euros, Trend reports with reference to the European Commission.
The Commission notes that as average import prices significantly increased year-on-year (showing a nearly five-fold upturn compared to Q4 2020), in the fourth quarter of 2021, the estimated gas import bill amounted to €58 billion, which was the highest in the last eight years, and in comparison to €11.9 billion in Q4 2020, it rose by 391 percent year-on-year.
“However, it should be noted here that the estimation of the gas import bill is based on the mixture of sources on import prices (spot wholesale prices, foreign trade data, etc.), which might not give a fully accurate calculation on the actual gas import prices, rising by an estimated 382 percent in Q4 2021 year-on-year. Bearing this in mind, the quarterly gas import bill was up in Q4 2021 compared to the previous quarter (€28.2 billion in Q3 2021).
In 2021 as whole, the EU gas import bill amounted to €120.8 billion, up from €35.9 billion compared to the same period of 2020. Out of these the estimated amount of gas imported from Russia on pipelines was around €41.5 billion, followed by Norway (€32.9 billion), Algeria (€6.6 billion), the TAP (€3.4 billion) and Libya (€0.6 billion). In the form of LNG, the EU imported gas in a value of €35.8 billion in 2021,” the report reads.
As the European section of the Southern Gas Corridor, TAP has the capacity to transport approximately 10 billion cubic meters of gas per annum (bcm/a) to several markets in Europe. The pipeline is also designed with the potential to expand its throughput capacity up to 20 bcm/a.
TAP is strategically and economically important to Europe and essential in providing reliable access to a new source of natural gas. TAP plays a significant role in boosting Europe’s energy security, supply diversification, as well as decarbonisation objectives.
TAP’s shareholding is comprised of bp (20 percent), SOCAR (20 percent), Snam (20 percent), Fluxys (19 percent), Enagás (16 percent) and Axpo (5 percent).
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