Joint declaration signed on EastMed project
By Trend
Israel, Italy, Greece and Cyprus have signed a joint declaration to promote the Eastern Mediterranean (EastMed) pipeline project that envisages gas supply from the eastern Mediterranean region for Europe, the Greek Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change reported .
The document was undersigned by energy ministers of four countries with participation of European Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy Miguel Arias Canete in Tel Aviv on April 3.
In this declaration, the parties support the establishment of the Eastern Mediterranean as another corridor for gas supplies to Europe.
The document states that the EastMed pipeline project, while complementing other export options under evaluation, is a strategic priority for exporting part of the current gas reserves of the Eastern Mediterranean region to Europe.
Israel’s Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz said the concerned parties have set a target of 2025 for completion of the project.
For his part, Elio Ruggeri, CEO of the IGI Poseidon joint venture promoting the EastMed option, said a final investment decision for the project is expected by 2020.
Ruggeri noted that the segment of the pipeline from the eastern Mediterranean to Greek shores is estimated to cost some 5 billion euros, plus another 6 billion euros for the segment linking Greece to Italy.
The Eastern Mediterranean (EastMed) pipeline project relates to an offshore/onshore natural gas pipeline, directly connecting East Mediterranean resources to Greece via Cyprus and Crete.
The project is designed to transport up to 16 billion cubic meters of gas per year from the off-shore gas reserves in the Levantine Basin (Cyprus and Israel) as well as from the potential gas reserves in Greece.
Earlier, senior officials from Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Israel agreed to advance talks on a pipeline from Israel to Europe after an EU-sponsored study showed the project would be very feasible.
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