For the first time, a tripartite meeting of Energy Ministers of Israel, Greece and Cyprus will be attended by companies from the three countries, putting on the table specific investment plans in the fields of gas and electricity.

Today, the ministerial meeting will take place in Jerusalem, which was provoked by the Minister of Energy of Israel, Karin Elharar. The Minister of Cyprus Natasa Pileidou and the Greek Minister Costas Skrekas will also participate.

The tripartite ministerial meeting will seek to reaffirm the energy cooperation of the three countries, which acquires special importance in the EU effort. to become independent of Russian gas.

According to information available to OT, in the trilateral ministerial meeting  there will be meetings between energy companies of the three countries and it is characteristic that the Greek delegation is accompanied by the CEOs of DEPA Commerce Costas Xifaras, IPTO Manos Manousakis and Energean Mathios Rigas. Corresponding state-owned companies are participating from Israel and Cyprus.

The EastMed pipeline

According to sources, the participation of Mr. Xifaras shows exactly the will of the Greek side to proceed with the ambitious investment plan of the EastMed gas pipeline that will transport quantities of fuel from Israeli fields to Cyprus and Greece and then to Europe. It should be noted that DEPA together with Edison are running this project. Its maturation is proceeding normally by the two companies, which have even proceeded using a  special vessel with seabed explorations in the sea areas from where the pipeline will be laid.

EastMed came to the fore again after the war in Ukraine and last week Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in a meeting he had with the EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson mentioned the project among the other international projects launched by Greece, thus opening new energy sources for the 27 member states.

The Italian Prime Minister also noted the review of the investment plan as necessary for Europe’s energy independence from Russia. In recent statements, Mario Draghi stressed that this project should, after the events of recent months, be studied again. It is noted that according to the plan, EastMed will end up in Italy, transporting quantities, in the first phase, of the order of 10 billion. sq.m.

The gas pipeline will be able to transport quantities of natural gas from the Israeli Leviathan field, if constructed, during the second phase of development.

The proposal for an Israel-Cyprus pipeline

The participation of Mr. Rigas, CEO of Energean, is also of particular importance for the tripartite energy cooperation.

The Greek company has leased maritime concessions in the Israeli EEZ and, among other things, is preparing for the production of natural gas from the Karis field. This is planned to start in the third quarter of the year, while together with Northern Karis the estimated quantities of the two deposits amount to 100 billion cubic meters.

Energean is also in the process of drilling its first bore in five other offshore blocks it owns in the Israeli EEZ. The estimated quantities in these are of the order of 110 billion cubic meters.

According to information available to OT, the Greek company is going to present a proposal to the Cypriot side for the construction of a pipeline that will transport quantities of gas from its fields to Cyprus. Sources describe the proposed pipeline as a “model” of EastMed, while the quantities of gas from the Energean blocks may be part of the alternative sources sought by the EU. for its independence from Russian gas.

The electricity interface

The Greek delegation is accompanied by Mr. Manousakis. The involvement of the CEO of IPTO has to do with the electricity interconnection Israel – Cyprus – Greece.

The EuroAsia Interconnector is an ambitious project that envisages the development of a submarine cable, which through its operation will end the energy isolation of Cyprus and Israel. The project is run by the aforementioned body, while IPTO is interested, according to the information, in participating in the project as a shareholder.

The European Commission has already recently approved funding of over 650 million euros for the submarine cable section Cyprus – Crete and recently in Nicosia there was a meeting of the Minister of Energy of Cyprus with the participation of EuroAsia and IPTO for better coordination in its development project.

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