Baku tells Tehran to join EU pipeline plan

"The Azerbaijani delegation officially requested … that Iran participates in the [project to] export natural gas to Europe through Azerbaijan,” the official said.

Once Iran joins the project, there will no longer be any concern for providing the required volumes for exports to Europe, Fars further quoted the official as saying.

The report added that it was agreed during the meetings between the Azerbaijani delegation and Iranian oil officials that it would be much easier for Iran to export its natural gas through Azerbaijan than for Iran to pipe that gas to Europe on its own. 

Azerbaijan reportedly wants to engage Iran in gas exports to Europe through the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP). 

TAP envisages piping natural gas from Azerbaijan to Greece and Albania and thereon to Italy through the Adriatic Sea and further to Western Europe.

The project that was announced in 2003 by Switzerland’s energy group EGL is seen a part of the Southern Gas Corridor - an initiative of the European Commission for gas supplies from Caspian and Middle Eastern regions to Europe.

TAP – which is expected to become operational in 2020 – will start at the Greece-Turkey border where it will be connected with the Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline (TANAP) that will bring gas from Azerbaijan to Turkey through Georgia.