IAP gas project design to be completed by September 2020

Albania, Bosnia, Croatia and Montenegro plan to complete the preliminary design of the Ionian-Adriatic Pipeline (IAP) by September next year, Report informs citing Montenegrin daily Pobjeda.

"The project is currently developing according to the planned dynamics and we are satisfied not only with the dynamics of the activities so far, which are the result of the commitment to the project of all countries through which IAP goes, but also with the high quality of the activities completed so far," Pobjeda quoted sources from the Montenegrin economy ministry as saying.

Four companies - Montenegro Bonus, Albania's Albgaz, Bosnia's BH-Gas and Croatia's Plinacro, last week agreed the incorporation of a joint venture for the construction of the pipeline, in which all companies will hold equal stakes.

The IAP is planned to carry natural gas from Albania's Fier via Montenegro and Bosnia, to Split in Croatia. The 516 km pipeline would be bi-directional and its annual capacity would be 5 billion cubic metres.

In Fier, IAP would connect to the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), a project under construction by a consortium that includes Azerbaijan's state-owned energy company SOCAR. TAP will transport natural gas from the Shah Deniz II field in Azerbaijan to Europe.