"ITGI is most competitive project for Azerbaijani gas supply to Europe"

The ITGI (pipeline Turkey-Greece-Italy) project is the most competitive project for the Azerbaijani gas supply to Europe, Elio Ruggeri, head of the International Gas Infrastructure in the Italian Company Edison said at the 17th International Caspian Oil and Gas conference.

He said the ITGI project ready to join the Azerbaijani gas to the European market.

"We are ready to buy Azerbaijani gas, which can be offered us by the country, and are ready to supply it to the European market", Ruggeri said.

According to him, gas amounts are needed to implement the South Corridor project. He said Azerbaijan is the only potential supplier of gas to Europe. Ruggeri stressed that "there are other countries with great resources. However, they need time to supply gas".

Regarding the ITGI project Ruggeri said that it is the best way to ensure the diversification of gas supplies to European markets. According to him, the ITGI project by 2015 will be ready for launch. In this regard, the project will not delay gas supply from the Shah-Deniz field, he said.

"We do all the works to put the project into operation in 2015," Ruggeri said. According to him, if the project in the second stage of the development of the Shah Deniz field is commissioned in 2016, the works within the ITGI will be slowed.

ITGI transport corridor which will transport Azerbaijani gas to Greece and Italy includes updated Turkish pipeline infrastructure and also ITG projects (Turkey-Greece junction pipeline) and IGI. Greece-Italy junction pipeline is a missing link of Turkey-Greece-Italy transport corridor which enables to transport gas from the Caspian region and Middle East to Italy and West Europe via Turkey and Greece. The designed carrying capacity of ITGI is 12 bln cubic m per year.

When operational, ITGI would stretch from Azerbaijan across Georgia (the existing Baku-Tbilisi-Erzerum pipeline) and Turkey into Greece and from there into Italy, across the Ionian Sea.


/Trend/