Athens energy forum examines Eastern Mediterranean links, infrastructure and investment

Athens, Greece. A high-level gathering jointly hosted by HELLENiQ ENERGY and the East Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF) examined how the Eastern Mediterranean could become a connected energy corridor and contribute substantially to supply security throughout the broader region.

Infrastructure and project investment

The forum explored what is needed to link regional energy resources to infrastructure, markets and financing so they can be developed. Ministers responsible for energy, representatives of institutions and industry participants considered the obstacles to building a functioning regional energy system.

Their discussions gave particular attention to storage, pipelines, LNG facilities, interconnections and energy corridors. Participants also examined how projects could reach sufficient maturity for Final Investment Decisions (FIDs).

Other issues included aligning regulations across borders, making permitting procedures effective and establishing arrangements to distribute commercial risk. Across the discussions, participants focused on turning strategic exchanges into practical priorities that could draw investment and speed up delivery of critically important projects.

Greece’s role in European supply

HELLENiQ ENERGY CEO Andreas Shiamishis outlined Greece’s place in the regional market, saying: “Greece is a natural energy gateway to European markets”.

He said businesses and the State had made significant progress towards fulfilling that role. Those efforts, he explained, were allowing energy products to reach consumers in Europe through infrastructure development, including pipelines and cables, as well as transport networks operating over land and at sea.

Regional and international participation

Senior officials attending included Cyprus Energy Minister Michael Damianos; Greece’s Minister of Environment and Energy, Stavros Papastavrou; Egypt’s Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Karim Badawi; and Joshua Volz, Special Envoy for Global Energy Integration at the US Department of Energy.

EMGF Secretary General Osama Mobarez and Jassim Alshirawi, Secretary General of the International Energy Forum (IEF), also took part. The gathering additionally included representatives from EMGF Member States, regulators, major energy businesses, investors and financial institutions.