Following the divestment of its share in the Shah Deniz gas field in Azerbaijan, Statoil has agreed to sell its 20% interest in Trans Adriatic Pipeline AG (TAP) to the Italian gas infrastructure company Snam SpA in a US$220.8 million (€ 208 million) deal.
This amount is for both Statoil’s shares in TAP and its pro-quota portion of the loans currently granted to TAP by its shareholders, the Norwegian giant said.
The total consideration will be adjusted at closing.
“We are pleased to announce this agreement with Snam which will realize value from our stake in TAP, of which we have been a part-owner since 2008. This divestment increases our financial flexibility and is in line with our strategy of portfolio optimization and capital prioritization,” Jens Økland, Statoil executive vice president for marketing, midstream and processing said.
Statoil and Snam have agreed to undertake the transaction provided certain conditions are met. The transaction is expected to close by end 2015.
When constructed, TAP will be the westernmost section of the Southern Gas Corridor, a 3500km long gas value chain linking Shah Deniz Stage 2 to gas markets in Europe. It will be 882km long with an initial 10 Bcm per annum capacity. It will connect with the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) at the Greece-Turkey border and cross northern Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea before coming onshore in southern Italy, where it will link up to the Snam-operated Italian natural gas network.
This divestment follows Statoil’s sale of 10% of its interest in the Shah Deniz Production Sharing Agreement and South Caucasus Pipeline Co. (SCPC) to BP and SOCAR announced in May 2014, and agreement in October 2014 with PETRONAS for the sale of Statoil’s remaining 15.5% share in Shah Deniz, 15.5% share in SCPC and 12.4% share in the Azerbaijan Gas Supply Co.