Caspian gas to be delivered to Europe via TAP since 2020, Deutsche Welle

Preparatory investments, for things like access roads, are due in 2015, Landwehr told the "Balkans and the Adriatic Oil and Gas Summit" in Athens on October 1. But the first gas deliveries - from the Azerbaijani Shah Deniz gas field, said to contain a billion cubic meters of gas - are not expected until the beginning of 2020. TAP is supposed to supply up to 20 percent of Europe's demand.

Deutsche Welle radio reported that of the planned pipeline's 880 kilometers (547 miles) in Europe, some 540 km will go through Greece, giving the country a key role in the implementation of the project. In February 2013, Greece, Albania, and Italy signed an agreement in Athens for the construction of TAP, which was simultaneously a clear signal for the political support for the billion-euro project.

But there have still been delays. The pipeline's exact route through northern Greece has not yet been decided, since several cities, communities, and local initiatives have demanded alterations to the current construction plans. According to the Athens newspaper TA NEA, there are more than 140 such requests pending. The TAP consortium has promised to assess each of these carefully and to implement a "social investment program" together with local communities, in an attempt to win more support for the infrastructure project.

But there have still been delays. The pipeline's exact route through northern Greece has not yet been decided, since several cities, communities, and local initiatives have demanded alterations to the current construction plans. According to the Athens newspaper TA NEA, there are more than 140 such requests pending. The TAP consortium has promised to assess each of these carefully and to implement a "social investment program" together with local communities, in an attempt to win more support for the infrastructure project.

TAP is not only attractive because it offers cost-efficient access to gas reserves in the Caspian region. The participating nations are also hoping to re-position the European energy market. Albania, for instance, has barely had an opportunity to tap into the European energy grids. This will now change, said Albania's deputy Energy and Industry Minister Dorian Ducka. "The TAP project ... makes Albania part of the southern gas corridor," he told DW. "It makes Albania part of the networks of energy, especially in the gas sector."

TAP also makes sound business sense, he claimed, because Albania can expect direct foreign investment of up a billion Euros ($1.25 billion), as well as jobs and higher tax revenue.

More important still - Tirana's long-term plan is for TAP to connect with the Ionian-Adriatic-Pipeline (IAP). "Albania will be the connection place for the transit of gas in the western Balkans towards Montenegro, Bosnia and Croatia," said Ducka. "And in doing so, it gives Albania the role of being not only a transit route, but also a hub." Similar deliberations are being made in northern Greece from where a 180-kilometer Greek-Bulgarian pipeline will bring gas from Azerbaijan to Bulgaria, Romania, and Hungary.

* Earlier gas deliveries via the Southern Gas Corridor to the European markets as a part of the Shah-Deniz-2 project is scheduled for 2019.—0—