Trans Adriatic Pipeline opens for business

The Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), which will bring Azeri gas into Italy, has kicked off commercial operations, more than four years after construction work first began, TAP said. 

The pipeline, whose shareholders include Snam and BP, said it had begun to offer capacity along the 878-kilometer line which will be able to carry 10 billion cubic meters of gas per year.

TAP, which also runs across northern Greece, is the final leg of a $40 billion project named the Southern Gas Corridor, which is a cornerstone of the European Union’s energy security policy to wean the bloc off Russian gas.

“It is the first delivery of contracted Azerbaijani gas beyond Turkey, it provides a fourth gas import pipeline corridor for the EU, it boosts diversification and energy security,” said Wood Mackenzie Research Director Murray Douglas. [Reuters]