OREANDA-NEWS. Balkan countries are developing models for proposed natural gas transmission systems in anticipation of future deliveries from Azerbaijan, a US adviser said, and their work will be integrated into a regional plan by the end of the year.

A study financed by US taxpayers in advance of flows on the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) project is intended to prompt energy ministries in seven southeast European countries to plan for gas demand in 2025, according to William Polen, a senior director at the US Energy Association, a non-profit group administering the work.

TAP will run from Azerbaijan to Italy and is expected to be completed by the end of the decade, one of several southern corridor pipelines being built to carry Caspian gas to Europe. Polen said TAP is expected to spur interest in building a northbound extension from Albania to Croatia, known as the Ionian Adriatic pipeline.

Croatia's planned 1.45mn t/yr Krk LNG import terminal may provide more gas to that country by early 2020.

Croatia and Bulgaria have extensive gas distribution systems in the region, while Albania, Kosovo, Bosnia, Montenegro and Macedonia do not.

The association provided the countries with software and training to do their own natural gas system modeling after an agreement was signed last month. The results will be combined in a database and will be analyzed next year. Polen said the conservative approach of lenders for gas pipelines will encourage the countries not to attempt to overbuild their infrastructure.