A third gas corridor: prospects for the East Med

October 20, 2012 | Filed under: Featured News,Geopolitics

Harris Samaras, Chairman & Group CEO of Pytheas, talks to Leigh Elston, Editor & Senior Reporter of Interfax, about the possibility, and importance, of the Eastern Mediterranean hydrocarbons to Europe and more (14 September 2012).

Extracts from the interview of Mr. Samaras withInterfax:

Dimitris Manolis, the Interconnector Turkey-Greece-Italy’s (ITGI’s) director of international activities, this week raised the possibility of bringing East Mediterranean gas to the European market via the ITGI pipeline as early as 2018. Harris Samaras, the chairman and group chief executive of Pytheas, an international investment banking organisation, spoke to Interfax about the benefits of, and technical and commercial challenges to, building ‘the East Med’ pipeline.

Interfax: Would a pipeline running from the East Mediterranean, as suggested by Dimitris Manolis, be feasible?

Harris Samaras: The construction of this ‘East Med Pipeline’, which would connect Israel, Cyprus and Greece to Italy and the rest of Europe, is feasible but it will be costly, and can only be justly assessed when further exploration is concluded and additional gas deposits are confirmed. If, however, the scientifically estimated deposits are proven to exist, it is undoubtedly the best long-term option and solution, not only for the countries involved, but for the EU as well. It is a solution which will liberate the EU from its energy dependence on volatile or [sometimes] ‘hostile’ countries – as both the source and the transportation means will be owned and controlled by EU-member countries alone. Needless to mention, it would strengthen Europe’s negotiating tools in the markets.

 

more see:  http://www.defencegreece.com/index.php/2012/10/a-third-gas-corridor-prospects-for-the-east-med/