LONDON, April 15 (Reuters) - The Trans Adriatic Gas PipelineGroup (TAP) said on Tuesday that it was re-launching aprocurement process for goods and services that the projectrequires to transport Azeri gas into the European Union towardsthe end of this decade.
"TAP has taken the decision to re-launch its procurementprocess, following a review of its strategy and schedule. TAPwill therefore initiate new pre-qualifications for goods andservices that the natural gas pipeline project requires," itsaid in a statement.
The re-launch will be for Engineering ProcurementConstruction (EPC) services such as onshore and offshorepipeline construction, compressor stations and the pipeline'sreceiving terminal, as well as for supply contracts, includingprocurement of steel pipes, TAP said.
TAP is planned to transport gas from the Shah Deniz II fieldin Azerbaijan to Europe towards the end of this decade
The approximately 870-kilometre-long pipeline will connectwith the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) near the Turkish-Greekborder at Kipoi, cross Greece and Albania and the Adriatic Sea,before reaching southern Italy.
TAP's shareholders are BP (20 percent), SOCAR (20percent), Statoil (20 percent), Fluxys (16percent), Total (10 percent), E.ON (9percent) and Axpo (5 percent). (Reporting by Dmitry Zhdannikov and Henning Gloystein; editingby Jason Neely)