April 19 (SeeNews) - Albgaz, Albania's newly established public gas company, and Greek gas transmission system operator DESFA have signed a memorandum of cooperation regarding the Albanian part of the future Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), the energy ministry in Tirana said.
Under the agreement, DESFA will help Albgaz train its staff to make sure that all the operations in the Albanian section of the pipeline will be carried out by Albgaz, the ministry said in a statement published on its website last week.
"This cooperation is a really important step for Albgaz and for Albania's natural gas sector, as it opens the way for signing the contract with TAP for the maintenance and operation of the Albanian section of the pipeline," the energy ministry said.
The ministry expects the contract between Albgaz and TAP to bring revenues and new jobs to Albania. The gas pipeline project is designed to carry Azeri gas to Europe via Albania.
The pipeline's initial capacity will be 10 billion cubic metres of gas per year, which could double further on.
TAP’s shareholding structure comprises BP (20%), SOCAR (20%), Snam (20%), Fluxys (19%), Enagás (16%) and Axpo (5%).