Albanian government has approved a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the government of Azerbaijan for development of Albania’s gas master plan, said the press office of Albanian government. The MoU sets the ground for assistance from Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR in the construction of the necessary infrastructure for Albania’s gas supply, with gas through the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP).
Baku and Tirana signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the development of a master plan for Albania in December 2014. Albania is one of the European countries, which will receive Azerbaijani gas through TAP. TAP is a part of the Southern Gas Corridor which is one of the priority energy projects for the EU. TAP project envisages transportation of gas from the Stage 2 of development of Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz gas and condensate field to the EU countries.
The pipeline will be connected to the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) on the Turkish-Greek border, run through Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea, before coming ashore in Italy’s south. TAP’s shareholders are: BP (20 percent), State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (20 percent), Snam (20 percent), Fluxys (19 percent), Enagas (16 percent) and Axpo (5 percent). TAP will be 878 kilometers in length (Greece 550 km, Albania 215 km, Adriatic Sea 105 km, and Italy 8 km). Its highest point will be 1,800 meters in Albania’s mountains, while its lowest point will be 820 meters beneath the sea.
