Snam could take stake in TAP pipeline, but not now

* Taking TAP stake would be part of Fluxys operations

* No intention to buy TAP stake now

* Snam (Milan: SRG.MI - news) 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 Gas Pipeline (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 ... We could evaluate in the future a participation," Carlo Malacarne told analysts in a call on Snam's third-quarter results.

Malacarne said any such move, conditional on the deal not altering Snam's risk profile as a regulated business, would happen as part of its joint venture with Belgian gas grid operator Fluxys which in September bought shares in TAP to increase its stake to 19 percent.

Snam and Fluxys signed an agreement earlier this year to pool their European assets to help create a more unified gas market across the continent and make it easier to trade gas.

Enagas, Snam's peer in Spain, acquired a 16 percent stake in TAP in September while BP, Azeri state energy company SOCAR and Norwegian Statoil all hold 20 percent stakes.

Azerbaijan aims to transport 16 billion cubic metres of gas a year from its Shah Deniz II field in the Caspian Sea by the end of the decade to Turkey and on to Italy. Europe sees Azeri gas as an alternative to its reliance on Russia.

Italy, which imports gas from North Africa, is keen to become a gas hub for southern Europe. But its ambitions have been dented by the fall in gas demand caused by the economic crisis.

In its third-quarter results Snam -- which has transport, storage and distribution businesses -- said Italian gas demand this year was expected to be lower than in 2013.

At 1550 GMT, Snam shares were up 2.5 percent, boosted by a 28 percent rise to 863 million euros ($1.08 billion) of its nine-month net profit due mainly to higher income from equity investments.

($1 = 0.7988 euro) (Reporting by Stephen Jewkes, editing by David Evans)