Italy, Greece, Albania and Croatia Meet to Push for Trans-Adriatic Pipeline

Representatives of Italy, Greece, Albania, Croatia, Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina met on Wednesday in Dubrovnik to support the Trans-Adriatic pipeline, according to Bloomberg. 

“Our message to Shah Deniz is that TAP is less costly as it’s shorter, and that all the governments involved support it,” said Croatian Deputy Foreign Minister Josko Klisovic to Bloomberg. 

TAP is one of two contenders, the other being Nabucco, for the transport of natural gas from the Shah Deniz II field in Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan's Energy Minister confirmed he expects a decision by the end of this month on which of two rival pipeline projects will ship Azeri gas to Europe. Recently, Minister Natik Aliyev said the decisive factor will be ensuring quick financial returns. 

Shah Deniz is a gas deposit group led by BP, which will transport 10 billion cubic meters of gas annually to the European Union.