ECONOMY
Italy`s Hera agrees to buy Shah Deniz gas
Baku, September 20 (AZERTAC). Hera Trading, a Hera Group company, dedicated to the wholesale of gas and electricity, signed an agreement on September 19 in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, for the purchase of gas within the second stage of Azerbaijani "Shah Deniz" field development.
The agreement, signed with Shah Deniz Consortium, is for 25 years and includes the allocation, in the initial stage, of an annual volume of 300 million cubic meters. The first gas supplies are expected not before 2019.
The trade agreement comes under the scope of the development of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), the pipeline which, by 2019, will connect the coast of Apulia, via the Adriatic, Albania and Greece to the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP), the pipe which runs along Turkey, connected in turn to the South Caucasus Pipeline Expansion (SCPS), which stretches as far as Shah Deniz.
The TAP represents the final stage of the so-called "Southern Corridor", destined to open up a new source of natural gas to Europe, which could offset the flows of natural gas currently coming from Russia, North Africa and the North Sea.
Confirmation of the Group`s midstream policy of flexibility and diversification of sources Hera, the only Italian local utility company to take part in the purchase of Azerbaijani gas through the TAP, confirmed its midstream strategy of flexibility and diversification of its supply portfolio, which in recent years has allowed it to manage market dynamics in a flexible and effective way, supporting commercial development. Currently, the Hera Group, with over 1.2 million customers (at 30/06/2013), 3.5 billion cubic meters of gas sold and 2.4 billion cubic meters of gas distributed (at 31/12/2012) is one of the major Italian operators in the industry.
Thanks to this supply, which does not, however, see the Group involved in the development of the TAP methane gas pipeline, Hera will be able to optimize its procurement portfolio further, with advantages in terms of the competitiveness of its gas supply to end users.