By Annemarie Botzki
Posted 29 May 2014 08:15 GMT
Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras met European Commissioner for Energy Günther Oettinger on Wednesday to discuss Greece’s role in European energy security.
The two discussed Greece’s offshore hydrocarbon reserves and its LNG terminal, according to Oettinger, as well as progress in the privatisation of Greece’s gas transmission network operator, DESFA. State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic bought a 66% stake in DESFA in 2013.
Oettinger said Greece’s role in the European gas market is of growing importance. “We also discussed a potential pipeline system offshore Greece – linking hydrocarbon reserves to the market,” he added.
An offshore pipeline connecting the Greek and Italian gas transportation systems – the IGI-Poseidon pipeline, led by Italian utility Edison and Greek public gas supply company DEPA – is included on the EU-wide list of Projects of Common Interest.
“Such a pipeline project, as well as an LNG alternative, would make a larger contribution to European energy security, especially if combined with prospective Greek hydrocarbons production,” a study by Greece’s Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy, titled Greece in Europe’s Southern Gas Corridor Strategy, found.
The European commission is aiming to diversify its supplies in light of the Ukraine crisis and has continually stressed the importance of LNG imports.
“The Greek LNG terminal is of growing importance in this regard,” Oettinger told journalists in Brussels on Wednesday.
The Revithoussa terminal, located west of Athens, is operated by DESFA, which is a subsidiary of DEPA.
Greece receives most of its LNG from Algeria on long-term contracts, with some additional volumes from the spot market, according to International Energy Agency data. Following an expansion of the terminal in 2007, further upgrades to increase gas receiving, storage and send-out capacity are planned.
The project will involve the construction of a third storage tank and will cost up to €166 million ($226 million), according to the European Investment Bank. The bank has proposed to finance €80 million of this.
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