The Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), a segment of the Southern Gas Corridor, has increased the natural gas transportation from Azerbaijan by 77% since April 17.
Report informs that the Kipoi point of entry between Turkey and Greece receives 26 million cubic meters of natural gas a day.
A major part of the natural gas is delivered to Italy. Over the past week, this country imported 22 million cubic meters. Greek imported 4 million cubic meters during this period.
The sharp increase in the supply of Azerbaijani gas to Europe may be caused by the fact that, unlike the North-Western European countries, Italy has begun to pump gas to storage facilities until the next heating season.
European traders say the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline, for its platform, is technically capable of supplying 33 million cubic meters of gas per day and has a contract to transport 31 million cubic meters per day.
TAP transports natural gas to Europe from the giant Shah Deniz field in the Caspian Sea’s Azerbaijani sector. The 878 km pipeline connects to the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline on the Turkish-Greek border in Kipoi, crosses Greece, Albania, and the Adriatic Sea, and reaches Italy’s southern coast.
On the first day of the project, which started the flow of natural gas to Europe on December 31, 2020, TAP pumped 10.9 million cubic meters of natural gas to Europe.
TAP can stimulate gas supplies to Southeast European countries through interconnectors to be built in the future. For example, Bulgaria will strengthen supply security by meeting 33% of its natural gas needs via TAP. In turn, it will increase the penetration of natural gas in the country. TAP’s outlets in Greece and Albania and Italy also open up opportunities for transporting Azerbaijani gas to other European countries.
TAP’s shareholders are SOCAR (20%), BP (20%), Snam (20%), Fluxys (19%), Enagás (16%) and Axpo (5%).
