Enel Interested in Joining TAP

CEO of Italian power company Enel Fulvio Conti has said that his company may be interested in participating in the TAP pipeline project.

Speaking in Italy today, Mr. Conti told reporters that Enel had interest in any project that would further Italy's gas interests.

"Enel is interested in projects that bring gas to the country," Reuters reports him as saying. When asked if these projects included the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline, Mr. Conti replied,"Of course."

The TAP project would bring gas to Italy through the southern section of the country from the Adriatic Sea. The gas would be transported from the Shah Deniz field in Azerbaijan.

The consortium for the pipeline has previously said that it would welcome any discussions of participation from Italy or Greece and was keen to discuss potential deals with interested parties.

"We're open to discussing new partnerships at a shareholder level and looking at our host countries, we’d welcome a Greek and/or Italian partner," TAP country manager for Greece Rikard Scoufias said in March.

Currently, Italy does not have any partners in the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline project. Its three current shareholders are Swiss EGL and Norwegian Statoil with a 42.5 per cent stake each and E.ON Ruhrgas with a 15 per cent stake.