ECONOMY

Nicosia eyes shipping corridor for gas exports

Nicosia eyes shipping corridor for gas exports

Cyprus wants to establish itself as a gateway from East Mediterranean gas resources to Europe via a shipping corridor of LNG carriers, its president said on Monday. 

Cyprus’ new centrist government, which came to power in February, has cooled to the idea championed by its predecessors of an “EastMed” pipeline transferring gas to Europe. 

Instead, authorities now want to transport, via pipeline, natural gas from fields in the Eastern Mediterranean to the island for use in domestic conventional power generation, with an additional LNG facility to process for European markets, President Nikos Christodoulides said. 

“Through this facility, natural gas from the Eastern Mediterranean region can be liquefied in Cyprus and transported by LNG carriers to the European markets, thereby creating an East Med corridor of gas supply to Europe,” Christodoulides told a workshop of industry stakeholders in Nicosia. 

Plans for a 2,000-kilometer pipeline to take Eastern Mediterranean gas to Europe had been under discussion for about a decade. However, there was a setback in early 2022, when the US pulled its previous support, saying it was too expensive and would take too long to build. 

The workshop concludes on Tuesday in Nicosia. [Reuters]

Subscribe to our Newsletters

Enter your information below to receive our weekly newsletters with the latest insights, opinion pieces and current events straight to your inbox.

By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.