Europe has received 18.5 billion cubic meters of gas through TAP up to date, Luca Schieppati says

Since the start of commercial operation on December 31, 2020, to date, the Trans Adriatic Gas Pipeline (TAP) has pumped 18.5 bcm of gas, of which almost 16 bcm have been supplied to Italy, Luca Schieppati, CEO of the TAP AG consortium, said in an interview with the Italian economic newspaper, Il Sole 24 Ore.

“In 2022 alone, it is planned to transport almost 10 billion cubic meters of gas to Italy via TAP, which is 3 bcm more than in 2021,” said Schieppati.

According to him, in the past few months, the Melendugno receiving terminal in Puglia has received 25-28 million cubic meters of gas daily, as a result of which Azerbaijan has become the second main supplier of gas to Italy after Algeria.

“In recent months, we have been working hard entering into long-term contracts that guarantee the supply of 10 bcm per year for 25 years, of which 8 bcm is for Italy, 1 bcm for Greece and 1 bcm for Bulgaria. At the same time, we have also maximized short-term capacity, which at this critical stage [energy crisis] for Europe has contributed to increased security of supply, while exceeding our commitments," TAP's CEO said.

"During a government delegation's visit to Baku in April, then Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio tabled a request for additional flows to Italy of at least 1.5 bcm. We have guaranteed twice as much and started the engines for the TAP capacity doubling project, from 10 bcm to 20 bcm,” said Luca Schieppati.

Azerbaijan plans to increase gas supplies to the European Union by 40% to 11.5 bcm in 2022. Last year Azerbaijani gas supplies to Europe amounted to 8.2 bcm.

TAP's construction was finalized in October 2020. The pipeline extends to 878 km, with 550 km passing through the northern part of Greece, 215 km through the territory of Albania, 105 km along the bottom of the Adriatic Sea and 8 km through the territory of Italy.

The TAP AG consortium is considering three scenarios for increasing the pipeline capacity: limited - up to 14.4 bcm, partial - up to 17.1 bcm and full - up to 20 bcm per year.

Azerbaijani gas supplies to consumers in Italy, Greece and Bulgaria via TAP began on December 31, 2020.