This year TAP is supporting the environment by sending an E-card. The money saved on printing and paper costs will be donated to Hellenic Society for Disabled Children in Greece and SOS Children's Village in Albania.

The Trans Adriatic Pipeline announced today an important project milestone with the commencement of its route refinement study in Greece in preparation of the Environmental & Social Impact Assessment in line with standards of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

The European Commission today adopted the Communication on "Energy infrastructure priorities for 2020 and beyond" which identifies key energy infrastructure priorities designed to enable an integrated European energy network.

The United Nations declared 2010 to be the International Year of Biodiversity. It is a celebration of life on earth and of the value of biodiversity for our lives. TAP considers biodiversity issues in its pipeline route selection process.

The focus of this issue is on TAP’s decision to use the highest international standards – the 10 Performance Requirements of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) – as a key benchmark for its Environmental and Social Impact Assessment process. Also, the 3rd issue starts introducing the TAP team - interview with Christian Falck, TAP's Technical Offshore Director.

TAP and its shareholders (EGL, Statoil and E.ON) are dedicated to finding the most cost effective transportation solution, tailor-made to fit the needs of the second phase of the Shah Deniz project, TAP Managing Director Kjetil Tungland told a prestigious energy forum in Istanbul this September.

TAP continues to build relations with local communities as part of its commitment to stakeholder engagement.

Kjetil Tungland, Managing Director of TAP, presented the pipeline project at the Gas Infrastructure World Caspian forum in Baku, Azerbaijan.

In a joint statement, shareholders EGL, Statoil and E.ON Ruhrgas said: "The TAP pipeline is designed to cater for the volumes of gas from Shah Deniz phase two that will be exported beyond Turkey into Europe. TAP shareholders consider Caspian gas to be the initial source of supply to fill TAP’s initial capacity of 10 bcm per year. The pipeline will not transport any Iranian gas under the current political circumstances."

TAP encourages those who are interested in the latest developments in diversifying Europe’s energy supply via the Southern Gas Corridor and in securing the future of Europe’s energy to follow @tap_pipeline. Tweets will include the latest news on the pipeline as well as reminders of upcoming events, speeches and industry comment.

TAP is the main sponsor of the exhibition “Urban Labyrinths” by Carla Molina, an Italian artist, which will be organized in Brindisi in the old tower of San Giacomo.

Statoil and EGL today announced the successful financial close of E.ON Ruhrgas’s 15% shareholding in the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) project.

Last week seven key ministries validated the results of TAP’s route refinement process in Albania and endorsed the proposed new pipeline route. The route refinement process started in June 2009 to avoid impacts on the Hotova National Park and identify the route corridor with the least impacts on the environment, livelihoods and cultural heritage sites. 43 national and international experts had spent up to three months in the field to evaluate six alternatives with an overall length of more than 600 km.

Kjetil Tungland, Managing Director of TAP, presented the project at the Caspian Oil and Gas Conference in Baku, which is one of the most important industry events in the region. The conference gathered high level Azeri officials, including representatives of the Ministry of Industry and Energy and State Oil company SOCAR, as well as representatives of all major European energy companies such as E.ON, Statoil, EGL, BP, GDF Suez, and others.

Trans Adriatic Pipeline project congratulates the governments of Turkey and Azerbaijan on reaching an important agreement on gas transportation today.

Dow Jones Newswire reported on the 28th of May 2010, that Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger expressed his support for the TAP project on the side lines of a high-level conference on European energy infrastructure in Madrid.

The video and audio recording of the media conference announcing new shareholder in Trans Adriatic Pipeline is now available.

TAP signed a Memorandum of Understanding & Cooperation (MoUC) with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Energy (METE), the official Albanian Government Ministry counterpart for the TAP Project.

You are invited to attend a media conference hosted by the Trans Adriatic Pipeline project - today at 11 am (CET)

During the month of April, TAP met with the Mayor of Brindisi and his team to further discuss the routing options that TAP has defined during its extensive route optimization that it undertook in 2009 in the Brindisi Area.

In the last six weeks, TAP has attended over 23 meetings with ministers in Greece, Italy and Albania and senior representatives of the EU.

This month, TAP became a proud sponsor of the “Excavated! Swiss Archaeologists Explore the City of Eretria (Euboea)” exhibition in Greece, showing at the Archaeological Museum in Athens. The exhibition is a clear demonstration of the importance of the preservation of cultural heritage in society.

TAP was very pleased to present at Turkey’s Oil & Gas Conference earlier in March this year.

The Trans Adriatic Pipeline AG (TAP) has made another significant step in its progress of the TAP project and submitted its official application to the Italian Ministry of Economic Development in Italy for inclusion in the Rete Nazionale Gas (RNG) Grid.

In the second issue of E-news TAP reports on the selection of the optimum route option in Italy and Albania. George Hatzidakis, TAP's Communications Consultant in Athens, describes situation with natural gas legislation in Greece in the article "Natural gas, energy security, and the opportunity for Greece". In the TAP's quarterly "thought piece" - "What gas crisis?", Arve Thorvik, TAP's Senior External Relations Advisor, explains why it is necessary to continue building gas pipelines in the current political and economic situation.

TAP met with a number of Ministers and officials in both Italy and Albania in January. “These meetings have shown that the TAP project is moving forward in a positive direction. All the various Ministers and Ministries have expressed a great deal of interest in the TAP pipeline and demonstrated a real willingness to support the project going forward,” says Michael Hoffmann, External Relations Director at TAP.

The Trans Adriatic Pipeline project completed registration of its permanent country offices in Greece, Albania and Italy. Country offices will support TAP in liaising with the authorities in the host countries, in preparing and submitting all necessary applications as well as in providing information about the project to the local public and media.