TAP

Greece has significantly increased its gas imports from Azerbaijan, Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, told Trend.

June saw a notable surge in imports, with 174.6 million cubic meters received, compared to 163 million cubic meters in May, marking a 7.1 percent month-on-month increase.

Greece imported a total of 1.020 billion cubic meters of gas from Azerbaijan between January and June 2023.

Azerbaijani Minister of Energy Parviz Shahbazov and Deputy Prime Minister of Albania, Minister of Infrastructure and Energy Belinda Balluku discussed the development of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) project, Azerbaijani minister wrote on Twitter, Trend reports.

Shazbazov noted that the parties also touched upon the issues of Albania's gas supply.

The capacity of the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB), which has 15 gas traders as registered users, was booked by 90 percent in February, Teodora Georgieva, chief executive director of ICGB company, the pipeline operator, said, Trend reports.

Moreover, she noted that in December, with over 90 percent of its capacity booked, IGB transported gas to Moldova.

Italy purchased natural gas worth 842 722 785 euros from Azerbaijan via the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) in January 2023, Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, told Trend.

Azerbaijan’s natural gas exports to Italy stood at 732 675 000 cubic meters last year, according to Eurostat.

Total spending of EU countries on Azerbaijani gas imports in January 2023 amounted to 1 006 939 047 euros and the volume of supplies stood at 972.9 million cubic meters.

Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania are preparing an agreement for gas supplies from Azerbaijan, Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary, said, following the meeting of the ministers of the countries of Organization of Turkic States, Trend reports via Hungarian media.

According to the minister, an agreement has been reached to launch the supply of 100 million cubic meters of gas from Azerbaijan to Hungary this year.

The Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) will allocate additional 1.2 billion cubic meters of gas from 2026, said Luca Schieppati, TAP Managing Director at the European Gas Conference, Trend reports.

“TAP recently triggered the first level of capacity expansion. The additional 1.2 bcm to be allocated from 2026 will be the initial phase of the process until capacity is reached to 20 bcm per year,” he said.

Commissioning of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) on time was very crucial, Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources Geoffrey Pyatt told Greek media, Trend reports.

He believes that this enabled Europe to successfully pass the winter test.

Pyatt went on to add that liquified natural gas supplies also played an important role in Europe’s energy diversification.

Axpo has agreed the sale of its 5% stake in the Trans Adriatic Pipeline AG (TAP) to TAP shareholders Fluxys and Enagás S.A, it was announced today, Trend reports via the company.

Under the sale and purchase agreement, Belgium’s Fluxys will acquire 1% and Spain’s Enagás 4% of Axpo’s 5% equity stake. Both companies will thus reach 20% ownership of TAP, which includes UK shareholder bp (20%), Azerbaijan’s SOCAR (20%), and Italy’s Snam (20%).

Amid global economic instability, Azerbaijan’s mitigating role in energy crisis is rapidly increasing. With Azerbaijan and the EU agreeing on doubling the supplies of Azerbaijani gas by 2027, the country’s gas exports to Europe are expected to be 20 bcm, while this year at least 11.6 bcm is planned to be supplied. Moreover, Azerbaijan’s total gas exports this year are expected at 24 bcm.

Around 4.875 million megawatt hours were transported through the Greece-Bulgaria gas pipeline (IGB) for the period October 1 - December 31, 2022, the ICGB, the pipeline operator, told Trend.

“In December, just months after the pipeline entered commercial operation, IGB’s capacity reached over 94 percent booking rate. By the end of 2022, there are 11 registered users of the interconnector,” said the company.