Gazprom ready to ship gas on TAP, but pipeline owners must make request
MOSCOW. June 6 (Interfax) - The Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), which is intended to supply Azerbaijani gas to Europe, risks being underutilized because Azerbaijan has to reinject more and more gas into reservoirs to support oil production, Gazprom Deputy CEO Alexander Medvedev told reporters.
The Poseidon or TAP pipelines could serve as onshore continuations for the TurkStream pipeline across the Black Sea that Gazprom is building. TAP AG is owned by State Oil Company of the Azerbaijani Republic (SOCAR), BP, Snam, Fluxys, Enagas and Axro. Gazprom held talks with the heads of Snam and Fluxys at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, he said.
"It is an unnatural situation for a completed pipeline to lie unfilled. Theoretically, in implementing the Poseidon project, it would be possible to utilize TAP's capacity. But come what may, we are not going to be suitors here. The owners of the pipeline have to deal with this headache," Medvedev said.
"You are aware of the source of the gas that is stipulated there. In the current situation, Azerbaijan has a growing need to reinject gas into reservoirs to support oil production at its main fields. This is no laughing matter. This is not a question of choice. Oil is the main budget source for Azerbaijan's economy," Medvedev said.
"We have already gone through this in different projects in other countries. This is a question of the Azerbaijani side's choice. If in this situation TAP's capacity ends up empty, this is a choice for the TAP participants, to allow it to remain empty or try to find some kind of mutual understanding. With us, for example. Theory is theory and practice is practice. We are open to any options for developing business in Europe and we believe that cooperation would be ideal. But we aren't going to force anyone," he said.