Tag: Shah Deniz II

The EU's Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger welcomed the signature today (13 February) of an agreement between the governments of Italy, Albania and Greece to build the Trans-Adriatic pipeline TAP, as a possible component of the Southern gas corridor linking the EU to the resource-rich Caspian region.

The Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP ) group has agreed offer up to 50% of its shares to the Shah Deniz gas consortium - made up of Azerbaijan's state gas company SOCAR and leading European energy partners. The deal follows the rival Nabucco pipeline's recent decision to give the Caspian Sea gas consortium the chance to acquire half of its shares.

Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz II gas group could agree to take a 50% stake in the Nabucco pipeline consortium by January, boosting Nabucco's prospects in a competition between projects that aim to pipe Azeri offshore gas into Europe.

UK oil major BP said it was no longer considering shipping gas from its Shah Deniz field in Azerbaijan through the Nabucco pipeline, dealing a blow to the troubled European project. But the European Commission said the “full-scale version” of Nabucco was still the main option under consideration.

Azerbaijan has delayed until March 2012 a decision on which bidder will get natural gas produced as part of the Shah Deniz field's second stage. Nabucco and three other pipeline projects are competing in the auction and results were expected this month.

In times of economic difficulties and fears of recession in Europe, overall energy demand will not increase, but the portfolio will change in favour of natural gas, Reinhard Mitschek, managing director Nabucco Gas Pipeline International, told EurActiv in an exclusive interview.

The Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) and Plinacro Ltd., a natural gas transmission system operator in Croatia, signed an agreement on Friday (25 February) providing for a future extension of the planned gas pipeline to Montenegro, Bosnia and Croatia.