The Shah Deniz consortium said that talks are underway to make gas sales in Bulgaria and that it plans to make an expression of interest to take pipeline capacity to the Balkan country.
The Shah Deniz consortium, which announced officially it has selected the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) to deliver gas volumes from the Shah Deniz Stage 2 project to customers in Greece, Italy and Southeast Europe, has agreed terms with a number of companies in Italy and Greece for its gas sales, it said in a press release.
The Shah Deniz co-venturers are: BP, operator (25.5%), Statoil (25.5%), Azerbaijan's SOCAR (10%), Total (10%), Lukoil (10%), the Naftiran Intertrade Company (10%) and Turkish petroleum corporation TPAO (9.0%).
The Shah Deniz Stage 2 project will bring gas from the Caspian Sea to markets in Turkey and Europe, opening up the ‘Southern Gas Corridor’. The project is expected to add a further 16 billion cubic metres a year (bcma) of gas production to the approximately 9.0 bcma from Shah Deniz Stage 1.
Initially, the Southern Corridor will deliver up to 10 bcma of Shah Deniz natural gas to European markets.The next stage is for Shah Deniz consortium members to make a final investment decision on the full Shah Deniz stage two development.
The approximately 870 km TAP will connect with the Trans Anatolian Pipeline near the Turkish-Greek border at Kipoi, cross Greece and Albania and the Adriatic Sea, before coming ashore in Southern Italy.TAP’s shareholders are Axpo of Switzerland (42.5%), Statoil (42.5%) and E.ON of Germany (15%).