Shah Deniz consortium chooses TAP to carry Azeri gas to Europe

The consortium developing Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz gas field has chosen the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) for natural gas deliveries to Europe, Gordon Birrell, BP Regional President for Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey said on Friday.

TAP defeated the rival Nabucco West project.

The project, first envisioned more than a decade ago, reflects a European Union push for alternatives to Russian gas imports and is expected to start flowing in 2019.

TAP is fronted by Norway's Statoil, Swiss company AXPO and E.ON Ruhrgas of Germany.

The TAP pipeline will collect Azeri gas in Turkey and carry it across Greece and Albania before reaching southern Italy, stretching 870 kilometres (540 miles).

The leading company in Nabucco West is Austria's OMV .

Source: ekathimerini.com