INTERVIEW: Greece-Bulgaria gas link to run market tests for capacity expansion in H2 - SEE NEWS

Apr 28, 2023 15:31 EEST
Antonia Kokalova-Gray

SOFIA April 28 (SeeNews) - ICGB, the operator of the Greece-Bulgaria natural gas interconnector (IGB), is planning to launch market tests in the second half of 2023 to gauge potential demand ahead of a planned capacity expansion, chief executive Teodora Georgieva told SeeNews.

ICGB has begun assessing the pipeline's infrastructure readiness to carry hydrogen as well, Georgieva told SeeNews in an interview earlier this month at the Budapest LNG Summit.

In case of sufficient market demand, the expansion of the IGB's capacity to 5 billion cubic metres (bcm) per year from the current 3 bcm/year will also help ensure the flow of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from terminals in Greece - the operational facility at Revithoussa and planned terminals like the one in Alexandroupolis. ICGB is already working on this opportunity with Greek transmission system operator DESFA, according to the chief executive. Building a new compressor station on the Greek side is one of the projects that will advance capacity expansion.

Italy regulator grants TAP AG more time for first gas delivery, company confirms Q4 deadline - PLATTS

03 Jul 2020 | 12:46 UTC London

Silvia Favasuli; Editor: Jonathan Fox

• TAP AG says extension requested in case of delay due to COVID-19
• New deadline for first gas delivery now December 2021
• But confirms commitment to deliver first gas in Q4 2020

London — The developer of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline, TAP AG, confirmed late July 2 its commitment to deliver first Azerbaijani gas into Italy in the fourth quarter of this year, despite having asked and obtained from Italy's regulator the possibility of postponing first delivery of gas until December 2021.

"The TAP project is more than 96% complete and reconfirms the target of transporting first gas to Europe within 2020," Vugar Veysalov, TAP head of external affairs, told S&P Global Platts late July 2.

Redrawing Europe's energy map will fuel multifaceted benefits for Israel's future - JERUSALEM POST

OCTOBER 5, 2019 19:17 JESSE BOGNER 

As the recent drone attacks on Saudi oil facilities as well as ongoing US-Iran tensions threaten the stability of energy markets worldwide, the opposite trend is taking hold in Israel, a nation that has long grappled with the challenges of being surrounded by hostile oil-rich neighbors.

The once-unthinkable notion of Israeli gas exports to Egypt is on the verge of becoming a reality following an agreement reached this month that enables the East Mediterranean Gas Company to operate Europe Asia Pipeline Co.’s coastal terminal in Ashkelon. At the same time, the $7 billion Israeli-Greek-Cypriot EastMed pipeline has the potential to forge Israel’s presence as an energy provider to Europe.

Yet a different pipeline project which is rarely mentioned in the same breath as Israel carries a dual promise – propping up the Israeli economy while bolstering the Jewish state’s long-term security, with or without Israel’s direct participation in the initiative.

Though Israel has yet to sign onto the project, the Azerbaijan-led Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) should be squarely on the nation’s radar as it looks to expand its influence economically. SGC’s scope is staggering. Spanning 2,200 miles (3,540 km.) across seven countries and connecting three linked pipelines, the $41.5b. project will reshape the geopolitical landscape of European energy consumption.

TANAP delivers 2.39 billion cubic meters of gas to Turkey as of August - DAILY SABAH

27.09.2019 
BARIŞ ERGIN

The amount of gas the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) has carried to Turkey has reached 2.39 billion cubic meters as of August, TANAP General Manager Saltuk Düzyol said.

"A total of 30%, corresponding to $450 million, of the revenue of $1.45 billion that will be generated when the total transmission capacity is reached, will belong to BOTAŞ [Turkish Petroleum Pipeline Corporation] every year. We predict that TANAP will reach a full transmission capacity of 16 billion cubic meters in two to three years," Düzyol told a group of journalists in Ankara yesterday.

The 1,850-kilometer TANAP forms the backbone of the Southern Gas Corridor, a project to increase and diversify European energy supply by bringing gas resources from the Caspian Sea: Shah Deniz 2 gas from Azerbaijan to Turkey and through Turkey to Europe markets.

Mytilineos Group overtakes DEPA as major LNG importer in 2019 - KATHIMERINI

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 9, 2019

Private Greek industrial group Mytilineos has overtaken incumbent DEPA to become the country’s biggest LNG importer this year, the first time in history that an independent company has knocked the state-owned company from the top spot, ICIS an information platform on petrochemicals and specifically on energy issues, fertilisers and other commodities said in a report.

Mytilineos imported over 370,000 tonnes of LNG from January to July, or 39 percent of the national total supplies, according to LNG Edge. DEPA took 273,000 tonnes, or 29 percent.

DEPA’s market share was 92 percent last year, and has never previously fallen below 50 pct. The shift indicates the progress made in one of the last countries in the European Union to liberalize its gas market.

The market began opening back in 2005, but momentum picked up from 2018 when the retail market was fully liberalized, leaving consumers free to choose their supplier. DEPA has been losing customers ever since.

With demand from the electricity power sector as well as industrial needs in aluminium manufacturing, Mytilineos is at the forefront of the market.

Italy opposes Poseidon gas pipeline landfall - REUTERS

MAY 7, 2019 / 7:37 PM

ROME, May 7 (Reuters) - Italy will not allow the Poseidon gas pipeline being developed by Italy’s Edison and Greece’s DEPA to make landfall as planned in southern Italy, the Prime Minister said on Tuesday.

The Poseidon pipeline, which has permits to run from Greece to the southern town of Otranto, is the final section of the EastMed pipeline that aims to bring gas reserves from the east Mediterranean to Italy.

TEKMOR Note: The Poseidon pipeline was planned as the last leg of the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) to transport gas from Azerbaijan via TANAP & TAP long before the idea of East Med Pipeline came into being!

“The government is certainly not interested at present in building the final tract of Poseidon as originally planned,” Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said at an event near Rome.

Two years ago DEPA and Edison signed a cooperation agreement with Russia’s Gazprom to set up joint efforts to create a southern route for gas into Europe.

The United States has been pressuring EU member states to find alternative natural gas supply sources not involving Russia.

Energy Minister: We want Bulgaria to Maintain its Strategic Position on Europe's Gas Map - NOVINITE

February 23, 2019, Saturday // 12:20

The southern gas corridor is at the heart of diversification not only for Bulgaria but also for the whole of Europe, Energy Minister Temenujka Petkova told Darik. The role of Bulgaria is key via the connector with Greece, because new gas supplies will be provided from the Caspian region, she explained.

This will give a new look and will diversify the sources of natural gas for our country, Minister Petkova said.

The connector with Greece must be ready in 2020 and put into operation, the energy minister announced.

The Greece - Bulgaria Interconnector is important for both our country and Europe, and we have negotiated 1 billion cubic meters of gas from the Caspian region, Temenujka Petkova said.

17 billion gas passes through our country from Russia to different countries, of which 14 billion are for Turkey. Following the construction of the direct link between Russia and Turkey, Ankara will receive gas directly from Russia, she described the situation at the moment.

Greece-Bulgaria Gas Interconnector Construction Should Start within 2-3 Months - NOVINITE

January 11, 2019, Friday // 15:15

The construction of the Greece-Bulgaria gas interconnector should start within 2-3 months, Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova told MPs in response to a question about gas supplies from Azerbaijan, Focus News Agencyreports. She said that building necessary infrastructure and concluding supply contracts were prerequisites for gas diversification. “In September Bulgargaz and Azerbaijani company Socar signed a contract for 1 billion cu m of gas. It is directly linked to two projects – the Southern Gas Corridor with the Greece-Bulgaria interconnector as an integral part. That 1 billion cu m is equal to 1/3 of our natural gas consumption. We can now talk about real diversification and a competitive environment,” Petkova said. She expects the procurement procedures for pipe supplier, engineering consultant and builder for the interconnector to be completed within a few days. The project is scheduled for completion in 2020.

The Mediterranean Pipeline Wars Are Heating Up - OILPRICE.COM

Dec 28, 2018, 9:30 AM CST

Viktor Katona

Things have been quite active in the Eastern Mediterranean lately, with Israel, Cyprus and Greece pushing forward for the realization of the EastMed pipeline, a new gas conduit destined to diversify Europe’s natural gas sources and find a long-term reliable market outlet for all the recent Mediterranean gas discoveries. The three sides have reached an agreement in late November (roughly a year after signing the MoU) to lay the pipeline, the estimated cost of which hovers around $7 billion (roughly the same as rival TurkStream’s construction cost). Yet behind the brave facade, it is still very early to talk about EastMed as a viable and profitable project as it faces an uphill battle with traditionally difficult Levantine geopolitics, as well as field geology.

The EastMed gas pipeline is expected to start some 170 kilometers off the southern coast of Cyprus and reach Otranto on the Puglian coast of Italy via the island of Crete and the Greek mainland. Since most of its subsea section is projected to be laid at depths of 3-3.5 kilometer, in case it is built it would become the deepest subsea gas pipeline, most probably the longest, too, with an estimated length of 1900km. The countries involved proceed from the premise that the pipeline’s throughput capacity would be 20 BCM per year (706 BCf), although previous estimates were within the 12-16 BCm per year interval. According to Yuval Steinitz, the Israeli Energy Minister, the stakeholders would need a year to iron out all the remaining administrative issues and 4-5 years to build the pipeline, meaning it could come onstream not before 2025.

Remarks at the Budapest Energy Summit - Francis R. Fannon - U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE

December 3, 2018Remarks
Francis R. Fannon
Budapest Energy Summit

Budapest, Hungary

Introduction

Good morning. Thank you Piroska for the kind introduction. I’ve seen a lot of Budapest and I’m pleased to be here today for the Budapest Energy Summit.

Today I would like to discuss Europe’s energy security: the challenges and the opportunities.

The United States has been engaged in energy issues as key to foreign policy since the 1800s. The State Department, at that time, worked to secure markets abroad for U.S. oil and kerosene, some of our largest exports at the time. In the 1970s, the Department was at the forefront in managing oil supply shocks, with then Secretary of State Kissinger helping to found the International Energy Agency.

Beyond the Southern Gas Corridor: Interconnecting Central/East Europe and the Balkans? - NAOC

October 12, 2018October 12, 2018 

Mariana Liakopoulou

Following the August signing of the Convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea, the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC), a large-scale gas pipeline project that aspires to connect the region’s copious hydrocarbon resources to the European markets, has been drawn back into international debate.

The present article illuminates how the SGC enhances the potential for cross-border interconnectivity amongst EU member-states in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the Balkans, as well as amongst the Energy Community contracting parties. The Energy Community is an initiative introduced at the onset of the twenty-first century by the EU and several third countries in its southeastern vicinity, focusing on the extension of the EU’s existing rules to aspirants for membership.

Azeri natural gas sellers book 8.6 Bcm/year long-term capacity to Italy: TAP - S&P GLOBAL PLATTS

Brussels, 23 Aug 2018 | 11:28 UTC
Author: Siobhan Hall; Editor: Alisdair Bowles

• 10 Bcm/year Greece
• -Italy TAP gas link to open in 2020
• Shah Deniz 2 sellers have 25-year capacity contracts
• TAP to offer short-term capacity in future auctions

Brussels — Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz 2 natural gas field producers have booked around 8.6 Bcm/year of long-term capacity to Italy in the planned 10 Bcm/year Trans-Adriatic Pipeline, developer TAP's head of communication, Lisa Givert, told S&P Global Platts on Thursday.

TAP is the last leg of the so-called Southern Gas Corridor that is to enable Europe to import gas initially from the 16 Bcm/year Shah Deniz 2 field, a new supply source.

First Gas Deliveries to Turkey Launched Via TANAP Pipeline - SPUTNIK NEWS

30.JUNE.2018, 14:24 

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Azerbaijan has started first gas deliveries to Turkey via the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP), Southern Gas Corridor CJSC General Director Afgan Isayev said in a statement.

"The SGC project has been financially supported by the leading international financial institutions, and Phase-0 under TANAP project, which relates to the works required for the first commercial gas deliveries to Turkey, has already been completed. First commercial gas deliveries to Turkey has commenced today, on 30 June 2018. The works planned for the delivery of natural gas to Europe through Turkey in the near future are being carried out according to the schedule," Isayev was quoted as saying in the statement.

According to the statement, the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA, part of World Bank group) has approved the loan for the Azerbaijan Republic totaling $750 million to finance the TANAP project.

It will transport gas from the Azerbaijani Shah Deniz Stage 2 gas field to Turkey and Europe.

The target capacity of the TANAP pipeline is 31 billion cubic meters of gas per year. The pipeline is 1,150 miles long.

A Storm Is Brewing In The Southern Gas Corridor - OIL PRICE

Jun 23, 2018, 4:00 PM CDT

Vanand Meliksetian

No fewer than Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko attended a gathering in Central Turkey on 12 June. The amount and variety of attendees of this meeting reveal a common interest in one field of geopolitical developments: energy and more specifically natural gas.

The opening ceremony of the 1.850 kilometers long Trans Anatolian Pipeline, TANAP, starting at the Shah Deniz gas field in Azerbaijan and ending in Turkey, is the last step before connecting to the European grid in Greece and Italy. TANAP is part of the Southern Gas Corridor, which was the dream of many European leaders and officials to create an alternative to Russian gas.

Turkey opens TANAP pipeline that will bring Azeri gas to Europe - DW

12.06.2018

Turkey and Azerbaijan have inaugurated the TANAP pipeline that will bring gas to Europe while bypassing Russia. The project has won political support from both the United States and European Union.

The presidents of Turkey and Azerbaijan have inaugurated a major pipeline that will eventually transport Azerbaijan natural gas to Europe.

The $8.5-billion (€7.2 billion) Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) is part of the Southern Gas Corridor, aimed at turning Turkey into an energy hub and diversifying EU natural gas supplies away from Russia.

"Our country is now one step closer to its vision to become a hub of regional energy lines thanks to TANAP," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in the central city of Eskisehir on Tuesday, dubbing the project "the Silk Road of energy."

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic were in attendance at the ceremony which saw the last section of the pipeline put in place.

Giant gas pipeline boost for Turkey amid turmoil - ARAB NEWS

April 27, 201813:10
Richard Wachman

• Turkey’s aim to become regional energy hub not yet achieved
• Ankara to collect transit fees, tariffs and taxes

It has been a decade in the making: The $40 billion Southern Gas Corridor (SGC), arguably the gas industry’s most significant and ambitious undertaking yet, involving seven governments and 11 companies.

The 3,500 kilometers pipeline corridor is one of the biggest infrastructure projects in the global oil and gas industry, bringing Caspian gas through three linked networks across Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, Greece and the Adriatic Sea to southern Italy where it can be conveyed to European markets.

SGC has been pushed by the EU since 2008 as a strategic imperative to reduce the bloc’s dependence on Russian gas, and has been bankrolled by EU and international funding, including loans from the Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank, which counts Saudi Arabia and UAE as members.

EIB approves 932 mln euro loan for TANAP gas pipeline - REUTERS

MARCH 15, 2018 / 5:48 PM
Reporting by Alissa de Carbonnel; editing by Philip Blenkinsop

BRUSSELS, March 15 (Reuters) - The European Investment Bank approved 932 million euros ($1.15 billion) in financing on Thursday for the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP), the largest part of a $40 billion project to bring new gas supplies to Europe.

The so-called Southern Gas Corridor is expected to bring around 16 billion cubic metres per year to Europe by 2020 from the Shah Deniz 2 field in Azerbaijan via TANAP through Turkey, the South Caucasus pipeline extension through Georgia and the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) to Greece, Albania and Italy.

Shah Deniz 2 is one of the world’s largest gas fields and is developed by a BP-led consortium.

Financing for construction of the TANAP pipeline has already been approved by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the World Bank and Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank (AIIB).

EIB approves 1.5 bln euro loan for TAP gas pipeline - REUTERS

FEBRUARY 6, 2018 / 7:39 PM
Alissa de Carbonnel, Editing by Jane Merriman

BRUSSELS, Feb 6 (Reuters) - The European Investment Bank on Tuesday approved a 1.5 billion euro loan for the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), part of a $40 billion project to bring new gas supplies to Europe.

The European Union is trying to reduce its dependence on Russian gas by developing the so-called Southern Gas Corridor which is expected to bring around 16 billion cubic metres of gas per year to Europe by 2020.

The gas would come from the Shah Deniz 2 field in Azerbaijan via several routes, including the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) to Greece, Albania and Italy.

TAP is slated to bring up to 10 billion cubic metres of gas to Italy from Shah Deniz 2 - one of the world’s largest gas fields developed by a BP-led consortium.

EIB Vice President Andrew McDowell told Reuters the TAP project would help to offset declining European production, provide a diversified source of gas and displace coal-fired power generation in central and south eastern Europe.

Southern Gas Corridor to Start Pumping Natural Gas in Mid-2018 - CASPIAN NEWS

February 2, 2018

Mushvig Mehdiyev

The Southern Gas Corridor mega-pipeline that will deliver Caspian gas to Europe and Turkey, may come online early and be operational by the middle of this year.

On Thursday, BP’s regional president for Azerbaijan, Turkey and Georgia, Gary Jones, said the development of the second phase of Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz gas field – currently the only supplier for the corridor – and the expansion of the South Caucasus pipeline – one of three segments within it – are almost complete.

SCPX project: construction complete at majority of facilities in Georgia - TREND NEWS AGENCY

30 December 2017 10:04 (UTC+04:00)

Construction work has been completed at majority of facilities as part of the South Caucasus Pipeline Expansion (SCPX) project in Georgia, Trend learned from Georgia’s Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development.

"SCPX compressor stations’ construction is progressing. The first compressor station (CSG1), as well as pressure reduction station at Georgian-Turkish border (Area 81), the 62-kilometer SCPX pipeline extension, including connection with TANAP at the Turkish border is completed," said the source in the ministry.

The construction of the second compressor station (CSG2) is 90 percent complete, added the source.

"The expansion of South Caucasus pipeline is one of the most important developments in terms of energy security of Georgia and larger region, said the source.