Forbes: Greece Gets Boost With TAP Decision

After a steady flow of dismal news, Greece’s energy aspirations received a boost this month with the choice of the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline to deliver gas from Azerbaijan to the European market.

The decision comes after years of proposals and competition surrounding which pipeline would finally link the offshore reserves to Western Europe. The choice of TAP puts that responsibility on a coalition made up of energy firms from across Europe, including Norway’s Statoil, BP, France’s Total, Belgium’s Fluxys, Germany’s E.ON and Switzerland’s Axpo, as well as the Azeri state oil company SOCAR.

The pipeline will be able to carry an initial 10 billion cubic meters of gas into the European market, with plans in place to expand that capacity to 20 bcm in the coming years. While this actually makes up a small percentage of the amount of natural gas actually used by European consumers each day, the pipeline is one small step towards the European Union’s goal of broadening their resource base, specifically in a way that will reduce their dependence on Russian reserves.

However, for Greece, the selection of the TAP project over competing pipelines means an economic boost when it needs it most. Home to two thirds of the entire pipeline, Greece will receive an injection of an estimated $1.5 billion euros into its economy form the construction of the TAP. This infusion will help the country make up for a billion euro gap by state privatization effort earlier this year that fell well short of expectations.

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