ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece, Italy and Albania signed an agreement Wednesday backing a proposed pipeline to transport natural gas from the Caspian Sea to western Europe, intensifying the rivalry with a competing project.

The 800-kilometer (500-mile) Trans-Adriatic pipeline system, or TAP, would have an initial annual capacity of 10 billion cubic meters (353 cubic feet) of natural gas from Azerbaijan. The venture is run by consortium comprised by Germany’s E.ON Ruhrgas, Norway’s Statoil and the Swiss-based Axpo group.