TAP remains US government’s priority

The Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) project, which envisages the transportation of Azerbaijani gas to Europe, remains US government’s priority, Amos Hochstein, the US Department of State special envoy and coordinator for international energy affairs, said in an interview with Greek news website Ekathimerini.

“I’ve spent much more time on this one project than any other project I’ve ever worked on. Even though there are no American companies in that project, we have still made this a US government priority. That’s why I was here in Thessaloniki for the groundbreaking of TAP,” Hochstein said.

He added that the US made so much progress in the relations between Greece and Bulgaria, and the US is working hard with the EU to make the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB) a reality.

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 870-kilometer 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 shareholding is comprised of BP (20 percent), SOCAR (20 percent), Snam S.p.A. (20 percent), Fluxys (19 percent), Enagas (16 percent) and Axpo (5 percent).

A ceremony marking the beginning of TAP’s construction was held May 17 in Thessaloniki, Greece.

IGB, which is expected to be connected to TAP, will allow Bulgaria to receive Azerbaijani gas. In early December 2015, Bulgaria and Greece signed a final investment decision on the IGB project. The initial capacity of the 182-kilometer pipeline will be three billion cubic meters of gas. (Trend.az)