(Adds comments on ENEL LNG project, risk profile)
By Geert De Clercq
PARIS, June 4 (Reuters) - Italian gas infrastructure companySnam could take a stake of up to 20 percent in theproject to build the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) that willcarry gas from Azerbaijan to Europe, its chief executive said onThursday.
CEO Carlo Malacarne said that as gas buyers are signingbinding, long-term ship-or-pay contracts for the Azeri gas, thetransmission revenue is guaranteed and this opened the way forregulated infrastructure players like Snam to enter the project.
"We are ready to evaluate buying up to 20 percent of theproject," Malacarne told Reuters at the Paris World GasConference.
TAP's current shareholders are BP (20 percent), theState Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) (20percent), Norway's Statoil (20 percent), Belgium'sFluxys (19 percent), Spain's Enagas (16percent) and Swiss company Axpo (5 percent).
Snam has an alliance with gas pipeline operator Fluxys tobuild a trans-European gas network.
Malacarne said that some companies such as BP and Statoilmight not have a strong interest in remaining in the consortiumas the project matures.
"We imagine that in coming months there will be exitpossibilities for this type of companies, which are productioncompanies, not infrastructure companies," Malacarne said.
He declined to comment on the price, but insiders say a 20percent TAP stake could be valued at around 400 million euros.
Malacarne said ship-or-pay contracts of up to 20 years makethe TAP project attractive for Snam, which is analysing thepossibility of participating.
"It could be an opportunity because the risk profile is verysimilar to our regulated risk profile."
Malacarne said Snam would make a similar evaluation about apossible equity stake in Italian utility Enel's project to build an LNG terminal in Porto Empedocle, Sicily, butonly if the Italian regulator sets new rules for the LNG plantconstruction business.
Snam only transports gas, it does not buy or sell gasitself, and the LNG terminal is a market-driven project notcompletely subject to regulated tariffs.
"We are ready to invest if new rules are set by theregulators to cover the commodity risk in LNG," Malacarne said.
Many LNG terminals in Europe are underutilised because moreand more LNG gas is shipped to Asia, where prices are up to twoor three times higher than in Europe.
The TAP and the LNG terminal are strategic infrastructureprojects for Italy, wich is seeking to diversify its energysources. Work on the TAP pipeline is to start before mid-May2016 and is to be completed before the end of 2020. (Reporting by Geert De Clercq; Editing by Mark Heinrich)