Romgaz and the Azeri company Socar projects an alliance for gas exploitation and transportation

>>> The two companies are interested in natural gas from the Black Sea, but also in the TANAP and TAP pipelines

By Edwig Ban
After withdrawing from Poland, where he tried to discover new gas fields, Socar Azeri company’s state-owned company, is projecting an alliance with the Socar Azeri company.
The General Manager of Romgaz, Adrian Volintiru, said after meeting with Socar representatives that the Azerbaijani company involvement with Romgaz in large projects leads to the creation of a major opportunity and opens the road of Romgaz expansion on international markets.
“Joining a Socar company with an enlargement perspective is important for us because it will bring major benefits not only to Romgaz, but also to the energy sector and the national economy as a whole. Romgaz wants to expand its business in foreign markets, exploring new opportunities and identifying optimal and effective expansion options with profitable implications for the company, “Volintiru said.
During the meeting, the projects of common interest have been discussed at the moment. More specifically, Azeri officials have shown interest in exploring and exploiting offshore, in partnership with Romgaz, the Black Sea gas, if the Romanian company decides to get involved in this project. It also mentioned the possibility of collaborating on projects targeting the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) and the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) gas pipeline, whose project financing procedure by raising € 3.9 billion, ended at the end of last year (December 2018).
Romgaz general manager Adrian Volintiru paid an official visit to Azerbaijan at the invitation of Socar officials. They also discussed in Baku about the Romanian company’s intention to collaborate both in the shore area of Azerbaijan and on the offshore in the Caspian Sea. “Meetings will continue in the coming period, to concretize what has been discussed. We have also identified the exchange option for gas storage because in the two companies the situation is similar, we have large storage capacities (3 billion cubic meters) and joint intentions to develop this activity in both countries, “added the general manager of Romgaz.
About TANAP. With a length of 1,850 kilometers, the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) pipeline will link Turkey’s border with Greece and the border between Turkey and Georgia. The initial capacity of the TANAP pipeline would be 16 billion cubic meters per year and increase to 23 billion cubic meters in 2023 and 31 billion cubic meters in 2026. The TANAP project is owned by 58% the Azerbaijan national energy company, Socar, and 30% of the Turkish power company Botas.
About TAP. With a length of 870 kilometers, the Trans-Adriatic Gas Pipeline (TAP) pipeline will be the last section of this corridor and will allow the transport of natural gas from Turkey to Italy via Greece and Albania. In 2020, when the first gas delivery to Europe is scheduled to take place, TAP will be the first non-Russian gas pipeline to supply Europe after the Medgaz connection, which in 2011 started supplying gas from Algeria to Spain.