Depa CEO: Depa Still Committed to ITGI Pipeline

Depa CEO Harry Sachinis has said that Depa remains committed to the development of the ITGI pipeline project, despite the news yesterday that the route had lost out on the opportunity to transport gas from the Shah Deniz II field to the rival Trans Adriatic pipeline (TAP).

Yesterday, it was revealed that the BP-led Shah Deniz consortium had chosen TAP over the Interconnector-Turkey-Greece-Italy pipeline in the event that it chose Italy as the most suitable route for gas from the field.

However, Mr. Sachinis says that the decision is only provisional and Depa will remain committed to the development of ITGI as the best transit option for Azeri gas.

"We understand that this is just a provisional decision by Shah Deniz, and we remain convinced that the ITGI project presents the best solution for the opening of the Southern Gas Corridor and for Azerbaijan, or other gas producing countries, to export their gas to Europe," he said.

He also drew attention to the fact that ITGI was the only one of the four pipeline options (Nabucco and SEEP being the other two) which had made its final investment decision (FID) in line with mandated deadlines.

Greek Depa is one of three shareholders in the ITGI project. Italy's Edison and Turkey's Botas are the other two stakeholders in the project.