Over 700 Pipes Delivered to Greece for TAP’s Construction - OGE / TREND NEWS

August 19, 2016

By Maksim Tsurkov – Trend

The Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) Consortium said Aug. 18 that more than 700 pipes have been additionally delivered to Greece’s Alexandroupolis for construction of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline.

In total, about 45,000 pipes will be used in the TAP’s construction.

TAP project envisages transportation of gas from Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz field to the EU.

The 870-kilometer pipeline will be connected to the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) on the Turkish-Greek border, run through Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea, before coming ashore in Italy's south.

Initial capacity of TAP will be 10 billion cubic meters of gas per year.

Tsipras heads to Sofia for energy talks - KATHIMERINI

SATURDAY JULY 30, 2016

Continuing his government’s efforts to boost alliances within the Balkans, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is due in Sofia on Monday for talks with Bulgarian government officials that are expected to focus on improving cooperation in the energy sector.

Tsipras and his Bulgarian counterpart Boyko Borisov are to jointly chair a session of a bilateral council that is to examine the scope for cooperation in various sectors of the economy, including energy and transport.

The two countries have already participated in the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB) gas pipeline and have agreed to create a liquefied natural gas terminal near Alexandroupoli in northern Greece.

State Department’s energy envoy sees Greece as potential gas entry point - KATHIMERINI

18.07.2016 : 19:45
VASSILIS NEDOS

Amos Hochstein, the US State Department’s special envoy on energy, has been a regular visitor to Athens in the past few years and in his most recent trip this month he met last week with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.

With the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) deal already signed, the terminal station in Alexandroupoli in northern Greece in the final stretch and the Greece-Bulgaria interconnecting pipeline (IBG) under way, Hochstein tells Kathimerini that Greece could become the entrance point for natural gas coming from the US and the Eastern Mediterranean.

The American official believes that the South Stream pipeline is a political scheme that will only benefit Russia and calls for a stop to plans for the North Stream II pipeline, arguing that it will have a negative economic and political impact on counties like Ukraine and Slovakia.

Bulgaria, Greece form task force to build Greek LNG terminal - KATHIMERINI

31.05.2016

Bulgarian state energy holding company BEH and Greek natural gas company Gastrade have set up a joint task force to prepare a proposal to build an off-shore liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in northern Greece, Gastrade said on Tuesday.

Greece currently has one LNG terminal on an islet off Athens and Gastrade, part of Greek energy group Copelouzos, is planning a second LNG terminal near the northern city of Alexandroupoli.

The task force will prepare and submit a proposal to the Bulgarian government for the best possible way to take part in the project, Gastrade said in a statement.

Iran May Boost Gas Exports to Europe Through Greece Facilities - BLOOMBERG

Alexis Tsipras (left) with Hassan Rouhani

February 24, 2016by Paul Tugwell (@paultugwell1) & Nikos Chrysoloras (@nchrysoloras)

Greece is in preliminary talks with Iran to secure natural gas for local needs and provide a gateway for the Persian Gulf nation to supply fuel to other parts of Europe, Greek Energy Minister Panos Skourletis said.

Greece produces little oil and almost no gas, while Iran is a member of OPEC and holds gas reserves that BP Plc ranks as the world’s largest. The countries agreed in January for Iran to supply crude to Hellenic Petroleum SA and buy oil products from the refiner. That deal, possibly Iran’s first such agreement with a European company since the lifting of sanctions, opens the road to cooperation in the gas market too, Skourletis said in an interview in Athens.

Greece Approved Construction of Pipeline TAP | Prensa Latina

Athens, Jan 14 (Prensa Latina) 

The Ministers of Environment and Energy of Greece signed here a decree giving green light to the construction of the pipeline Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) in 13 national regions.

The project includes the installation of pipelines throughout the north to connect in the east with the line from Turkey and in the west with Albania, which last summer began working on the infrastructure.

Greece expects the TAP stimulates the economy and employment, considering the creation of up to 10,000 direct jobs, both during construction and subsequent operation stage.

The pipeline, that should be operational in 2019, will supply European markets with gas from Azerbaijan and its goal is to reduce dependence on Russia by diversifying energy sources and routes.

The strengthening of the geopolitical role of Greece as an energy supplier will be further increased by the construction of a floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Alexandropoli, explained sources consulted by Prensa Latina.

This project, approved by the European Commission, which already has a plan of action, will supply gas to the national grid, will connect to the TAP and with the IGB pipeline from Bulgaria to supply Serbia and Romania.

An international forum on natural gas is scheduled for January 22 in Athens, where special attention will be paid to these regional projects.

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Cheniere Energy eyes stake in Greek LNG project | Reuters

Wed Dec 16, 2015, ATHENS 

Cheniere Energy, a U.S-based liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter, is interested in a minority stake in a new LNG terminal that will supply gas to southeastern Europe through Greece, a senior company official said on Wednesday.

Greece currently has one LNG terminal on an islet off Athens. Greek energy firm Copelouzos is planning to build an offshore LNG terminal near the northern city of Alexandroupolis.

That facility, with an estimated annual capacity of 6.1 billion cubic metres (bcm), will seek to supply gas to southeastern Europe via a natural gas pipeline that will cross through Greece, the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB).

IGB pipeline deal, signed between the two countries last week, aims to tap gas from Azerbaijan and help diversify supply for a region mainly relying on Russia gas.

Cheniere's head of marketing, Jean Abiteboul, told reporters in Athens on Wednesday that the firm was interested in the terminal project.

"Not only your country but the region is highly dependent on one supplier, which is a Russian supplier, Gazprom," Abiteboul said.

"We believe that bringing American gas in your country will help to diversify the gas supply and, eventually, which is the most important, to reduce the cost of energy for the region."

Abiteboul, who met Greek Energy Minister Panos Skourletis on Tuesday, said Cheniere and Copelouzos were in talks about the project though discussions were still at an early stage.

A senior official at Copelouzos' Gastrade unit, which will build the terminal, said the Alexandroupolis facility could be operational in the first half of 2018 as long as the final investment deal was signed next year.

The facility is expected to cost between 350 and 380 million euros ($415 million) and will be financed by EU funds, equity and debt.

Abiteboul said Cheniere was also in talks to supply gas to Greece's natural gas company DEPA.

"They (DEPA) are interested in buying gas from us," he said. "DEPA has a long-term contract with Gazprom but there is room for additional gas."

($1 = 0.9148 euros) (Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou; Editing by Mark Potter)

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