Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) introduces first natural gas into Albanian section

[Tom Kirkman + 8,860]

My usual preamble about oil & gas pipelines ... I am generally in favor of increasing oil & gas pipeline infrastructure anywhere in the world, regardless of the politics or countries involved.

Pipelines are generally the best and safest way to reliably transport hydrocarbons over long distances.

LNG can be shipped between continents by ship, and that is a totally separate discussion.

Anyway, I am in favor of this Trans Adriatic Natural Gas Pipeline.  Because expansion of natural gas infrastucture is good, in the bigger picture.

 

TAP introduces first natural gas into Albanian section

On 20 May, the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) AG started to introduce the first natural gas into a 4 km section of the pipeline in Albania, between the Greek – Albanian border and up to the TAP metering station in Bilisht.

In line with national and international safety and operational standards, this is the initial stage of the pipeline testing process, which aims to ensure that the infrastructure is entirely safe and ready for operations. Following the commissioning of this first section, gas will continue to be gradually introduced into other sections of the Albanian pipeline and beyond in the upcoming weeks and months.  ...

 

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Some background for those unfamiliar with this particular natural gas pipeline:

 

 

TAP project 95.1 per cent completed

The Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) project was 95.1 per cent completed, Azerbaijan State News Agency (AZERTAC) reported, citing the TAP AG consortium reports.

“TAP is currently moving further into the project construction phase. Every day hundreds metres of TAP’s Right of Way (ROW) are cleared, strung, welded, lowered into the trenches and backfilled, in line with the project construction steps and schedule.

“At the end of April 2020, the TAP project was 95.1 percent completed,” said the consortium.

TAP project, worth 4.5 billion euros, is one of the priority energy projects for the European Union (EU). The project envisages transportation of gas from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz Stage 2 to the EU countries.

Connecting with the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) at the Greek-Turkish border, TAP will cross Northern Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea before coming ashore in Southern Italy to connect to the Italian natural gas network.

The project is currently in its construction phase, which started in 2016.

TAP shareholders include BP (20 per cent), SOCAR (20 per cent), Snam S.p.A. (20 per cent), Fluxys (19 per cent), Enagás (16 per cent) and Axpo (5 per cent).