Nabucco, TAP launch pre-qualification process for steel pipe producers
By Aynur Jafarova
The Nabucco consortium has announced the launch of the pre-qualification process for steel pipe producers for its 1,320 km gas pipeline, offering potential suppliers to apply for this phase.
Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH (NIC) reports that the launch of this process is yet another step towards ensuring that Nabucco is ready to meet the gas delivery schedules of the consortium developing Azerbaijan's giant Shah Deniz field in the Caspian Sea.
Earlier, NIC signed a contract with Italian contractor Saipem to provide Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) services for the Nabucco West project.
The contract included all FEED activities: strategic analysis of data and information to conduct appropriate risk assessments and allocation of resources across the pipeline to ensure the continued successful development of the project.
Nabucco West is a short-cut version of the Nabucco project, which envisages construction of a pipeline from the Turkish-Bulgarian border to Austria. It is one of the two options -- along with the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) -- which is currently considered by the Shah Deniz consortium to deliver its gas to European markets. The final decision on a pipeline route will be made this year.
The project's current shareholders are Bulgarian Energy Holding, Romanian Transgaz, Turkish Botas, Austrian OMV, German RWE and Hungary's FGSZ. Gas to be produced within the second phase of Shah Deniz development is considered as the main source for the project.
Last week, TAP also announced that it had started a pre-qualification process, inviting steel pipe producers to an expression of interest, in preparation for construction operations.
TAP and E.ON New Build and Technology (ENT), which are conducting onshore engineering for the TAP project, plan to implement the two-stage pre-qualification process.
TAP will require about 400,000 tons of steel pipes to lay approximately 800 km of the 48 inch pipeline over the three-year period of construction work.
Project Development Director of TAP Sigurd Hamre said the main goal of the prequalification is to ensure that there are enough high quality steel pipes available on the market when TAP starts construction work in 2015.
"TAP is therefore beginning the pre-qualification for steel pipes in advance of its final investment decision, in order to remain fully aligned with the Shah Deniz II gas field development in Azerbaijan," Hamre said.
The TAP project is designed to transport gas from the Caspian region via Greece and Albania and across the Adriatic Sea to southern Italy and further into western Europe. Gas to be produced during the Shah Deniz second phase is seen as the main source.
TAP's initial pipeline capacity will be 10 billion cubic meters per year, but is easily expandable to 20 billion cubic meters. TAP's shareholders are AXPO of Switzerland (42.5 percent), Norway's Statoil (42.5 percent) and E.ON Ruhrgas of Germany (15 percent).
Vice President of the Azerbaijani state energy company SOCAR on marketing and investments, Elshad Nasirov, has said a final investment decision on Shah Deniz Phase 2 project is expected to be made by October 2013.
Azerbaijan plans to export 10 billion cubic meters of gas to Europe within the second stage of Shah Deniz development.