A plan to build the final stage of a $40 billion international gas pipeline in Italy is under review, the country's new environment minister said, calling the project "pointless". Italy is at the end of the Southern Gas Corridor, a pipeline taking gas from central Asia to western Europe. It is a cornerstone of the European Union's energy security policy which aims to wean the bloc off Russian gas supplies.
Environment Minister Sergio Costa, sworn in on Friday as part of a ruling coalition of anti-establishment parties, said Italy's involvement in the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), the final stage of the 3,500-km (2,200-mile) corridor, would be reviewed along with some other major projects. "TAP is on the table and we are looking at it as a priority ...," said Costa, who was nominated as minister by the coalition's biggest party, the pro-environment 5-Star Movement.
"Given (our) energy policy, given falling gas demand, that project today looks pointless," he added in written responses to a series of questions put to him on Tuesday and Wednesday. A review would likely create tensions between Italy and the developers of the 4.5 billion euro ($5.3 billion) TAP project, which include British oil group BP, Italy's Snam and Spain's Enagas.