STAVANGER, Norway, May 21 (UPI) -- A new shareholder structure for the Trans-Adriatic gas pipeline enhances the prospects for European energy sector, Norwegian and German partners said.
German energy company E.ON Ruhrgas took a 15-percent stake in the Trans-Adriatic pipeline project from Norwegian company Statoil and U.S.-based EGL holding.
Statoil described the deal as a contributing to a significant step toward the realization of the natural gas pipeline. The German company, Statoil said in a press release lauding the deal brings a long history of regional gas expertise to the project.
The project is one of the shortest routes in the so-called Southern Gas Corridor for Europe. The proposed pipeline would start in Greece and cross the Adriatic Sea to Italy. Europe sees the Southern Gas Corridor as a way to break the Russian grip on the energy sector by securing Central Asian and Middle Eastern gas supplies.
Statoil holds assets in the Shah Deniz gas field in Azerbaijan. Rune Bjornson, executive vice president for natural gas projects at Statoil, noted that E.ON Ruhrgas was a logical partner in the project.
"Today's move will further strengthen the TAP-project and its ability to compete for gas volumes to be transported from the Caspian region to Europe," he said.
For his part, Jochen Weise, the head of the gas supply division at E.ON Ruhrgas, said the project was "indispensable" to European gas diversity.
