Italian ambassador: "Works on TAP continue"

Baku. 9 May. REPORT.AZ/ "Currently, works on TAP are underway".

Ambassador of Italy to Azerbaijan Augusto Massari said in an interview to Report.

Notably, TAP pipeline, which is part of the Southern Gas Corridor project, initially intends to transport 10 billion cubic meters of gas to Europe produced within the Shah Deniz-2 project. This pipeline will connect the TANAP (Trans-Anatolia) pipeline in the Kipoy area on the Turkish-Greek border and will extend to the south of Italy through the Greek, Albania and the Adriatic Sea.

The Shah Deniz consortium has officially announced the selection of the TAP pipeline on June 28, 2013, after reviewing various options within two years. The total length of the pipeline is 878 km. 550 km will cover the territory of Greece, 215 km of Albania, 105 km of the Adriatic Sea and 8 km of Southern Italy. The highest point of the pipeline will be in the mountains of Albania (1,800 m), and the lowest part (-820 m) will be at the seabed.

A groundbreaking ceremony of the TAP was held in Thessaloniki, Greece, on May 17, 2016. It is intended to deliver Azerbaijani gas to Europe in 2020. Shareholders of TAP include “BP” (20%), “SOCAR” (20%), “Snam S.p.A.” (20%), “Fluxys” (19%), “Enagas |(16%) and “Axpo” (5%).