Azerbaijani Minister of Energy and Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation discussed the expansion of TAP

Within the conference “Azerbaijan-Italy: “The way to strengthen multidimensional strategic partnership”, a meeting was held between the Minister of Energy Parviz Shahbazov and the delegation led by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy Luigi Di Maio at ADA University. The sides discussed the development of energy cooperation between Azerbaijan and Italy. 
Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Luigi Di Maio highly appreciated the role of the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) in strengthening bilateral energy cooperation, energy supply of his country and its position in the European gas market. He underlined the importance of starting activities to expand TAP. 
The Minister of Energy Parviz Shahbazov also spoke about the growing importance of natural gas supply through TAP in energy cooperation with Italy, a reliable and largest trading partner of Azerbaijan, in addition to the crude oil supply. Noting that 10 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas have already been delivered to Europe through TAP, the Minister said that the availability of large gas resources, the important role of natural gas in energy transition and growing interest in diversification of gas supply sources allow TAP to expand:
“If the current growth rate continues, we expect that our gas exports to Italy will reach 9.5 billion cubic meters under long-term and spot contracts by the end of this year. The expansion of TAP can provide more natural gas not only to Italy, but also to other European countries. Therefore, we invite interested parties to take an active part in this process.”  
The Minister also noted the possibility of transporting a 10 per cent hydrogen mixture with the expansion of TAP. Italian companies were called to evaluate the possibilities of this cooperation, emphasizing that the use of offshore wind energy and “green” hydrogen exports to Europe are also on the agenda.    
At the meeting, issues on cooperation in various fields between the two countries and the next meeting of the Joint Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation were also discussed.