site.btaNo New Gas Pipelines in SE Europe in Near Future - Expert

No New Gas Pipelines in SE Europe in Near Future - Expert

Sofia, July 28 (BTA) - Plamen Dimitrov of the Bulgarian
Geopolitics Society said that no new major gas pipelines would
be built in Southeastern Europe in the near future. He was
talking on Monday at a BTA-hosted news conference on the Balkan
gas geometry against the backdrop of the Ukraine crisis, the
Iran deal and Greece's drama.

Dimitrov said there was clarity about the parameters of the
Southern Gas Corridor which will transport mainly Shah Deniz gas
 from Azerbaijan through the South Caucasus Pipeline to the
Turkish border. From there, the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP)
 will transport gas through Turkey, and the Trans Adriatic
Pipeline (TAP) will take it through Greece and Albania into
Italy.

The gas pipeline is expected to be completed in Greek territory
by 2020. Construction in Italian territory will be completed by
the end of 2020, and the pipeline will be able to transport gas
to the EU countries in 2021, said Dimitrov.

TAP will carry 10 billion cubic metres of gas a year, of which 1
 billion cu m will remain in Greece and Bulgaria each. The
amounts have been agreed and preliminary agreements on their
purchase have been signed. In this light, it is relevant to
discuss the interconnector between Greece and Bulgaria which is
to carry Azerbaijani gas. Nothing has been signed so far despite
 the stated intention to have a construction agreement in June
or July. The most important detail - how much the European
Commission will grant for this project - remains unclear.

Prof. Nina Dyulgerova argued that South Stream was more feasible
 than Turkish Stream. The EU's Third Energy Package is the only
obstacle to South Stream, which is 95 per cent ready, she said.