Analyst: Delays in IGB contribute to growth of Azerbaijani gas supplies to Italy

The volume of gas supplied to Italy via TAP is higher than initially expected, Tom Marzec-Manser, a global gas and LNG Analyst at Independent Commodity Intelligence Services (ICIS), told Report.

"This part may be due to the fact that Bulgarian Bulgargaz cannot purchase its share of gas [under the Shah Deniz contract Bulgargaz was supposed to receive 1 billion cubic meters of gas per year] due to the fact that the Greece-Bulgaria interconnector (Interconnector Greece – Bulgaria: IGB) has not been completed," he said.

He also noted the importance of Russian and Azerbaijani gas supplies to Western Europe, stressing that Azerbaijani supplies through TAP are much smaller.

According to local analysts, Azerbaijan is currently considering the possibility of increasing the volume of gas supplies to Europe.