ITGI Loses Out to TAP in Shah Deniz Bid

The Interconnector Turkey-Greece-Italy (ITGI) pipeline has failed in its bid to become the transit route for gas from the Azeri Shah Deniz gas field via Italy and the Caspian Sea, it has been reported today.

A spokesperson for BP, which leads the consortium into the Shah Deniz field, has confirmed the decision today to a number of media outlets, including the Dow Jones, Trend and Reuters news agencies. Speaking to Reuters, a spokesperson said that ITGI was no longer in the running for the transit of Shah Deniz gas and, should the consortium choose Italy as a transport route, the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) will be the chosen pipeline.

"The SOCAR-led [State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic] negotiating team has made the decision to undertake exclusive negotiations with TAP on a southern pipeline route through Italy," a spokesperson told the Dow Jones news wire.

However, TAP remains in competition with two other pipeline routes still in consideration, the Nabucco pipeline and the South East Europe Pipeline (SEEP), the spokesperson said.

A final decision on which route to take or pipeline to choose will be made once the consortium makes a decision between Nabucco and SEEP, the spokesperson said.

"Once that is done, it will be possible to make a decision between a northern or southern pipeline route," he said.