* Taking TAP stake would be part of Fluxys operations
* No intention to buy TAP stake now
* Snam shares higher after Q3 results (Recasts lead, adds CEO comments, shares)
By Stephen Jewkes
MILAN, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Italian gas grid operator Snam could eventually take a stake in the Trans Adriatic GasPipeline (TAP) scheduled to carry Azeri gas to Europe by 2020,Snam's CEO said on Friday.
"We have no intention to become a shareholder now ... Wecould evaluate in the future a participation," Carlo Malacarnetold analysts in a call on Snam's third-quarter results.
Malacarne said any such move, conditional on the deal notaltering Snam's risk profile as a regulated business, wouldhappen as part of its joint venture with Belgian gas gridoperator Fluxys which in September bought shares inTAP to increase its stake to 19 percent.
Snam and Fluxys signed an agreement earlier this year topool their European assets to help create a more unified gasmarket across the continent and make it easier to trade gas.
Enagas, Snam's peer in Spain, acquired a 16 percent stake inTAP in September while BP, Azeri state energy companySOCAR and Norwegian Statoil all hold 20 percent stakes.
Azerbaijan aims to transport 16 billion cubic metres of gasa year from its Shah Deniz II field in the Caspian Sea by theend of the decade to Turkey and on to Italy. Europe sees Azerigas as an alternative to its reliance on Russia.
Italy, which imports gas from North Africa, is keen tobecome a gas hub for southern Europe. But its ambitions havebeen dented by the fall in gas demand caused by the economiccrisis.
In its third-quarter results Snam -- which has transport,storage and distribution businesses -- said Italian gas demandthis year was expected to be lower than in 2013.
At 1550 GMT, Snam shares were up 2.5 percent, boosted by a28 percent rise to 863 million euros ($1.08 billion) of itsnine-month net profit due mainly to higher income from equityinvestments.
($1 = 0.7988 euro) (Reporting by Stephen Jewkes, editing by David Evans)