Italian PM: Natural gas supplies from Azerbaijan via TAP accounts for 60 pct of Italy’s import

By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

Natural gas supplies from Azerbaijan through the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) currently account for nearly 60 percent of Italy’s imports, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said at Rome MED-Mediterranean Dialogues conference in Rome, Azernews reports.

“Our strategic partnership with Algeria in particular has allowed us to act rapidly in recent months to reduce our dependence on Russian natural gas. The enlarged Mediterranean is the backbone of Italy's energy security: around 45 percent of natural gas imports come from it. Today we reach almost 60 percent with Azerbaijani supplies via TAP through Turkey, Greece, and Albania. The potential of the area is enormous and the contribution it can make to the European energy security in this crisis phase, not only with regard to natural gas but also for the development and exchange of new sustainable, convenient and accessible energies," she said.

With the completion of the TAP (Trans-Adriatic Pipeline) on December 31, 2020, Azerbaijan began commercial gas supplies to Europe via the Southern Gas Corridor.

Last year, TAP transported 8.1 billion cubic meters of gas to Europe. In 2023, Azerbaijan plans to increase gas supplies to Europe to 11 billion cubic meters. As of 2022, Azerbaijan has exported 9.3 billion cubic meters of gas to Europe in the first ten months and is expected to supply 11.5 billion cubic meters of gas to Europe by the end of the year.

The total length of the pipeline is 878 km, of which 550 km goes via Greece, 215 km via Albania, 105 km offshore, and 8 km through Italy. The offshore leg is laid at a maximum depth of 810 meters. The initial capacity of the pipeline is about 10 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year, with the option to expand the capacity up to 20 billion cubic meters.

TAP’s shareholders are BP (20 percent), SOCAR (20 percent), Snam (20 percent), Fluxys (19 percent), Enagás (16 percent), and Axpo (5 percent)