TAP Starts Work offshore Albania
The Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) company has started working on the 105-km section offshore Albania, it said October 22.
Italy’s Saipem is TAP’s contractor in charge of the engineering, procurement, construction and installation of the offshore section of the project.
“The physical offshore pipeline installation is planned to start in 2019 and works are due to be completed on time for TAP to transport Caspian gas to Europe in 2020, TAP head of communications Lisa Givert told NGW. In total, TAP is more than four-fifths complete.
Givert said that work on the Italian section would restart after the summer break. “TAP is about to resume works for the completion of the Italian section of the project. For all the activities, TAP will implement the measures set out by the Environmental Monitoring Project that has been approved by the competent authorities. The project schedule remains unchanged and TAP continues to work towards being ready to deliver first gas from Shah Deniz II in 2020,” she said. There has been uncertainty over the progress the line will make in Italy, where the local authorities have opposed the project despite the importance of TAP to the government in Rome.
The total costs of 878 km TAP, stretching from Turkish-Greek border at Kipoi to southern Italy, is projected at €4.5bn ($5.2bn), of which a third would be spent on the Albanian section. TAP is expected to complete in 2020 and start 10bn m3/yr Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz II gas to EU in 2021.
TAP’s shareholders are BP (20%), Azerbaijan state producer Socar (20%), Italy's Snam (20%), Belgian Fluxys (19%), Spain's Enagas (16%) and Swiss utility Axpo (5%).
Shah Deniz ups production
An official told NGW that during the first nine months of this year, production fr0m Shah Deniz rose 8.1% year-on-year to 8bn m3. Shah Deniz 1 rose by 2mn m3/d in late July, which was also when SD2 came on, with output initially of 1.5mn m3/d. Last year, BP-led SD produced 10.2bn m³, which is expected to reach 12bn m3 in 2018, the source said.
BP also operates Azerbaijan’s offshore Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli block, which produced 12.5bn m3 in the nine months of year, of which two thirds were re-injected to maintain oil output and the rest of volume (sale gas) was delivered to Socar. Azerbaijan’s total sale gas production rose by 2.5% in nine months to 13.834bn m3.