Romania would like to connect to the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), as this
would mean cheaper gas for consumers in the country, minister delegate for
energy Razvan Nicolescu said.
"Connecting Romania, Bulgaria, and probably
Hungary, to TAP is an initiative which could benefit Romanian consumers, since
prices would be more competitive. [...] It is a concept which is being discussed
with representatives of the European Commission, as well," Nicolescu told local
news agency Mediafax on Sunday.
TAP will transport natural gas from the
Shah Deniz II field in Azerbaijan to Europe along an approximately 870 kilometre
long pipeline that will connect with the Trans Anatolian Gas Pipeline near the
Turkish-Greek border at Kipoi, cross Greece and Albania and the Adriatic Sea,
before coming ashore in southern Italy.
TAP’s routing can facilitate gas
supply to several Southeast European countries, including Bulgaria, Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and others.
The TAP partners are: SOCAR
with a 20% stake, BP, with 20%, Statoil with 20%, Fluxys with 16%, Total with
10%, E.ON with 9.0% and Axpo with 5.0%.