Term revealed for first deliveries of Azerbaijani gas to Europe

The first deliveries of Azerbaijani gas to Europe via the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) will begin in March 2020.

The first deliveries of Azerbaijani gas to Europe via the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) will begin in March 2020.

Turkey will complete all the work to launch filling of the TAP with Azerbaijani gas by June 2019, according to Saltuk Duzyol, head of the TANAP Consortium.

“Although, the TAP itself will not be ready for this date, we, on our part, want to perform the entire work beforehand,” he said at a press conference in Turkey’s Eskisehir on April 17.

TAP project, worth 4.5 billion euros, is one of the priority energy projects for the European Union. The project envisages transportation of gas from Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz Stage 2 to the EU countries.

Connecting with TANAP at the Greek-Turkish border, TAP will cross Northern Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea before coming ashore in Southern Italy to connect to the Italian natural gas network.

TAP shareholders include BP (20 percent), SOCAR (20 percent), Snam S.p.A. (20 percent), Fluxys (19 percent), Enagás (16 percent) and Axpo (5 percent).

Meanwhile, on April 18 Spain’s Gas Natural Fenosa has transferred its obligations under the deal on gas sale within the Shah Deniz 2 project to the Italian company Edison.

Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR reported that the signing ceremony for transfer of obligations at SOCAR Tower in Baku was attended by representatives of SOCAR, Azerbaijan Gas Supply Company (AGSC), Edison, and Gas Natural Fenosa.

Edison got the right to supply gas within the Shah Deniz 2 project for a period of 25 years. The gas supplies will be launched in 2020 after construction of the TAP is completed.

This step is part of a major agreement on purchase of the Gas Natural Vendita Italia gas distribution network by Edison. The transfer of the right to sell gas from the Shah Deniz 2 from Gas Natural Fenosa to Edison is one of the key conditions of this deal.

As part of the Shah Deniz 2 project, gas production will increase from 9 to 25 billion cubic meters per year. The produced gas will be exported to Turkey and the European markets through the expansion of the South Caucasus Pipeline and the construction of the TANAP and TAP.

A contract for development of the Shah Deniz offshore field was signed on June 4, 1996. The field's reserve is estimated at 1.2 trillion cubic meters of gas.