Shah Deniz II selects TAP for European gas shipments

The Shah Deniz II consortium has selected the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) as the project’s European transport option. The consortium informed OMV, as a shareholder of Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GMBH, of its decision on June 26.

TAP will transport as much as 20 billion cu m/year of natural gas from the Shah Deniz II field in Azerbaijan, through Greece and Albania to Italy, from where it can be shipped further into Western Europe.

TAP’s shareholders are Switzerland’s Axpo 42.5%, Norway’s Statoil 42.5%, and Germany’s E.On Ruhrgas 15%. Shah Deniz II consortium members BP PLC, State Oil Co. of Azerbaijan Republic, and Total SA have been funding TAP and can now join the project (OGJ Online, Apr. 11, 2013). TAP expects to enter service late-2018.

Shah Deniz II will add 16 billion cu m/year of gas production to the roughly 9 bcmy produced by Shah Deniz I. Development includes a 16-bcmy expansion and upgrade of the South Caucasus Pipeline (SCP) and Sangachal terminal. Sangachal’s gas capacity at end-2010 was 14.4 bcmy, including all 9 bcmy of the Shah Deniz gas (OGJ Online, Dec. 13, 2010). SCP’s current capacity is 7 bcmy.

OMV said the decision would not influence its strategy of growing upstream and integrated gas and that it intends to play a role in further securing and diversifying the gas supply to Europe, assessing alternatives to complement existing supply routes.