BP: ÒÀÐ and Nabucco had big commercial difference

The Trans-Adriatic gas pipeline and Nabucco West projects had a big difference between them in terms of the cost of gas and its delivery, BP vice-president for Shah Deniz field development Al Cook told journalists today.

"TAP and Nabucco had a big commercial difference between them in terms of the cost of gas and its delivery," he said. "There were other differences between the projects."

According to him, more than 10 options have been considered while choosing a route for four years. The decision was made on the basis of eight criteria.

As a result, shareholders of the Azerbaijani gas condensate Shah Deniz field development made a decision. According to Cook, it will be possible to rapidly supply gas to the TAP countries 'participants via the Trans-Anatolian and Trans-Adriatic gas pipelines. Work on the Interconnector is underway which will ensure the gas supply to other European countries.

"We are now working on the Shah Deniz-2 project," he said. "The investment amount is projected to reach $40 billion. This is a very important decision that will lay the foundation for the development of other fields."

According to him, the negotiations on the purchase of gas are almost complete with Italy and Greece. Besides these countries, negotiations on the construction of the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB) are underway with Bulgaria, which also plans to be connected to the TAP.

A decision on getting a share in TAP will be made within a few weeks, Cook said.

"The companies from different countries want to buy gas in Italy," he said. "We will consider these proposals and are interested in the transportation of gas from Italy to the north."

On Friday, the shareholders of the project for the development of Azerbaijani gas condensate field Shah Deniz announced the selection of TAP as the transportation route for its gas to European markets.

The TAP project is designed to transport gas from the Caspian region via Greece and Albania across the Adriatic Sea to the south of Italy and further to Western Europe.

The gas produced within the second phase of development of the Azerbaijani gas condensate field Shah Deniz is regarded as the main source for the project.

TAP's initial pipeline capacity will be 10 billion cubic metres per year, but is easily expandable to 20 billion cubic metres per year. TAP's shareholders are AXPO of Switzerland (42.5 per cent), Norway's Statoil (42.5 per cent) and E.ON Ruhrgas of Germany (15 per cent).

Construction of TAP is expected to start in 2015. (Trend)