THE GOVERNMENT yesterday made much of the inclusion of a hypothetical gas pipeline from Cyprus to Greece as part of broader EU efforts for energy independence and security.

During the European Council held earlier this week, President of the European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso delivered a presentation depicting a subsea pipeline running from Cyprus to Greece through Crete.

The pipeline was featured on a map of the proposed Southern Corridor, which includes the Nabucco-West and Trans-Anatolian Pipeline as conduits bringing Azeri gas to the European continent.

Barroso noted that during the Council’s discussion on energy matters he stressed the importance of hydrocarbon reserves in the Levantine Basin and Cyprus’ prospect of becoming a regional energy hub.

Even if theoretical, it was the first official recognition of Cyprus as a possible conduit for gas to Europe, leading the government spokesman here to assert that “Cyprus is now on the energy map.”

Most experts in the field agree that a mooted pipeline from the island to Greece would be hugely impractical and costly – if at all feasible – due to the long distances and the geology of the sea bed.

But mere mention of a pipeline connecting south-east Mediterranean gas reserves to Europe via Greece, and not through Turkey, is significant in a political context.

Cyprus’ official position so far has been against piping its potential gas reserves (and perhaps those of neighbouring countries) to Europe via Turkey.

The issue has broader political ramifications that touch on efforts to resolve the decades-long conflict on the island. Some argue that piping Cypriot gas to Turkey would be a win-win for both sides. Turkey, which does not recognize the Republic of Cyprus, says the island’s hydrocarbon reserves belong to both communities and that Greek Cypriots cannot be allowed to exploit them unilaterally.

But a great deal of confusion was caused here due to Anastasiades’ erroneous use of the term “southern corridor” during a press conference after the European Council.

Anastasiades was at the time not speaking of a pipeline, but rather of ship transport routes for the export of Mediterranean gas reserves using an LNG plant in Cyprus as a hub.

His “southern corridor” comments were later reproduced by the media here.

The matter was cleared up yesterday at a session of the House Commerce Committee by Charles Ellinas, chairman of the Cyprus National Hydrocarbons Company (CNHC).

Ellinas explained to MPs that when one wants to describe LNG ship transport routes from Cyprus, one should preferably use the term “southeast Mediterranean corridor” to avoid confusion with the “Southern Corridor,” which refers to the Nabucco-West and Trans-Anatolian Pipeline.

As Ellinas later told the Mail, efforts by Nicosia to get the EU to recognise this “southeast Mediterranean corridor” are far more important to Cyprus than an Israel-Cyprus-Greece pipeline, which for the time being is “only an idea, for the long term.”

Also yesterday, commerce minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis told MPs he hoped Cyprus and US firm Noble Energy – which has a concession on offshore block 12 – would “soon” conclude a memorandum of understanding for developing an LNG plant on the island.

The MoU’s purpose would be to set up a joint venture between the CNHC and Noble. The joint venture would be a special-purpose vehicle seeking out investors for the LNG facility.

It would relate to the construction of a single train at Vassilikos – the proposed site for an LNG terminal – for the processing of natural gas believed to lie within Block 12. More trains could subsequently be added to the plant in the event of further gas discoveries in Cypriot waters.

Published by: www.cyprus-mail.com