BAAR, Switzerland, July 30 (UPI) -- The consortium behind the TAP gas pipeline from Azerbaijan said BP, French oil company Total and Azerbaijan's energy company came on board as members Tuesday.
A BP-led consortium working in the second phase of the giant Shah Deniz natural gas field off the coast of Azerbaijan selected the Trans-Adriatic pipeline as its conduit for European consumers in June.
The project is part of the so-called Southern Gas Corridor, a network of pipelines planned to add diversity to a European market dependent on Russian natural gas.
The TAP partnership announced BP, Total and the State Oil Co. of Azerbaijan Republic joined the consortium planning the pipeline. TAP said gas transit company Fluxys also joined existing shareholders with a 16 percent stake in the project.
"This will further strengthen the integration of the entire Southern Gas Corridor value chain and support TAP's delivery of the project on time and on budget," TAP Managing Director Kjetil Tungland said in a statement.
TAP will connect to a pipeline near the Turkish border with Greece and cross through the Adriatic Sea before it heads to European markets from Italy. It would deliver gas by 2019.
