EC GRANTS "CONDITIONAL" SUPPORT TO EAST MED PIPELINE | Natural Gas Europe

December 11th, 2014

A pragmatic approach from all the stakeholders is required for the East Med pipeline to move ahead and overcome difficulties that could hinder the project, said experts on the third panel at the 2030 EU Energy Security conference in Brussels. In this sense, the message is clear. The European Commission is ready to give a hand to the project connecting East Mediterranean riches to Italy through Greece, but that hand is not unconditional.

A combination of financial and technical assessments, to be carried out in the coming months, will tell whether the project is feasible. These studies will have a significant role in the EC’s decision to grant a significant “political support” to the project. The EC has already shortlisted the pipeline as a Project of Common Interest (PCI), but the selection does not automatically make the project eligible for funding.

Cyprus, Israel, Greece push EU gas pipeline link | Israel Hayom

Cyprus, Israel, Greece push EU gas pipeline link

Proposed East-Med Corridor would have capacity of 8-12 billion cubic meters and would link Israel, Cyprus, Greece and Italy • Cypriot, Greek officials say the pipeline would buttress European Union's energy security.

The Associated Press and Israel Hayom Staff

A natural gas field in the eastern Mediterranean |  Photo credit: Ziv Koren

Cyprus says it has joined with Israel and Greece to get the European Union to consider a pipeline that would link the continent with newly found natural gas fields in the eastern Mediterranean.

A statement Tuesday said Cypriot Energy Minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis and his Greek counterpart Yiannis Maniatis pitched the idea to European Commission Energy Union chief Maros Sefcovic.

The officials told Sefcovic in Monday's meeting that the proposed East-Med Corridor would have a capacity of 8 billion to 12 billion cubic meters and would link Israel, Cyprus, Greece and Italy.

They said the pipeline would buttress the EU's energy security because it would pass mostly through bloc member countries.

Maniatis said EU-funded studies would confirm preliminary research on the project's technical feasibility and economic viability.

Link to source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=22023