Shah-Deniz delegation informed Greek premier about selection TAP

On June 26, 2013 the delegation of the consortium for development of the Azerbaijani gas condensate field Shah-Deniz-2 informed Greek Premier Antonis Samaras about selection of the trans-Adriatic gas pipeline (TAP) for deliveries of natural gas to Europe instead of the alternative Nabucco-West route, sources close to the talks told Greek journalists.

They said that “TAP project, which is supported by Greece, was a focus of discussions between Premier and the Shah-Deniz-2 delegation led by heads of the main companies of the consortium of BP and SOCAR in Athens.” The delegation was compared of Al Cook, BP Vice President for Shah-Deniz-2 and SOCAR President Rovnag Abdullayev. According to the project, at the first stage it is planned to deliver 10 billion cub.m. of gas a year via the TAP to Europe via Greece and Italy.

Press office of Greek Premier could not provide any details of the meeting to the ITAR-TACC correspondent. Athens-based AMNA news agency just confirmed the fact of the meeting and added that there are no official comments of the Greek government about selection of the TAP by the consortium.

Greek Express newspaper reported that the Shah-Deniz-2 consortium’s delegation has met with the Greek Premier Samaras and the administration of the Greek Ministry of Environment Protection, Energy and Climatic Changes.”The Greek government supports TAP, which will begin from the Greek-Turkish border and will be laid to Italy through Albania. The final decision is expected to be announced till the end of the month.

Greek Foreign Ministry reported about the meeting between Greek Vice Premier and Foreign Minister Evangelos Venezelos and the delegation of the consortium. The statement reads that “Venizelos has met with the Azerbaijani Ambassador to Greece Rakhman Mustafayev and representatives of the Shah-Deniz-2 consortium, who have informed him about completion of the procedure of selection of the gas pipeline for transportation of natural gas from the Caspian region to Europe. The official statement will be made on Friday July 8 at 11.00 a.m. Baku time.” Greek Foreign Ministry did not specify which gas pipeline the consortium has selected, reported http://ww.biztass.ru.--0--