Reuters: Statoil to Leave TAP Gas Pipeline Project

Norway's Statoil is to sell its 20-percent stake in the Trans Adriatic Gas Pipeline (TAP) project that will carry gas from Azerbaijan to Europe, the president of Azeri state energy firm SOCAR said.

"Statoil has decided to leave the TAP project completely, and there is a company which is ready to buy its stake," Rovnag Abdullayev told Azeri ANS TV late on Friday.

"Several companies have expressed an interest in buying Statoil's stake, and it would be better if several companies would buy it," he added.

Statoil did not comment on the news.

"We generally do not comment on speculations on adjustments to our portfolio," Statoil's spokesman told Reuters.

The TAP pipeline is a part of project that is designed to transport 16 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz II field in the Caspian Sea, one of the world's largest gas fields, by the end of the decade. MORE