Albania, Greece, Italy to Ink TAP Pipeline Deal in New York

Proposed route of the future Trans Adriatic Pipeline TAP. Map from trans-adriatic-pipeline.com

An intergovernmental agreement on the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) project will be signed between Italy, Albania and Greece on Friday

This has been reported by international media citing an Italian government source, as quoted Azerbaijani news site Trend News.

"The signing is imminent, it will be done in New York," the source said, adding that the representatives of the three countries will attend a United Nations meeting.

The TAP project is designed to transport gas from the Caspian region via Greece and Albania and across the Adriatic Sea to southern Italy and further into Western Europe.

TAP's initial pipeline capacity will be 10 billion cubic metres per year, expandable to 20 billion cubic metres per year.

TAP's shareholders are EGL of Switzerland (42.5%), Norway's Statoil (42.5%) and E.ON Ruhrgas of Germany (15%).

Earlier this year the Shah Deniz consortium made TAP a priority route for export of Azerbaijani gas to Italy.

Currently, the Shah Deniz consortium considers two options to deliver its gas to Europe -TAP and Nabucco West. The final decision on a pipeline route will be made in 2013.

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