Eni, what the EU is doing to gas itself with Israel and Egypt
The European Union would like to import gas from Israel via Egypt. It may be a good opportunity for Italy, given that the Damietta liquefaction plant is owned by Eni. All the details
The European Union is working on an agreement to import Israeli natural gas via Egypt. The news – given by Bloomberg , who viewed an official document – testifies to Brussels' efforts to rapidly reduce energy dependence on Russia, the community's main gas supplier with a share of around 40 percent.
THE GAS ROUTE BETWEEN ISRAEL AND EGYPT
The plan calls for natural gas from Israel to be liquefied at plants in Egypt, and then shipped from there to Europe. The agreement represents a great opportunity for Tel Aviv, which could secure a greater presence on the European market by leveraging the lower prices of its fuel compared to those on the continent.
COLLABORATION ALSO ON CLEAN ENERGIES
The possible memorandum of understanding between the European Union, Israel and Egypt would also concern cooperation on clean energy projects. The signing of an agreement, however, is subject to the approval of the member states of the Union.
THE WORDS OF ROMANIA
As early as last April, Romania showed interest in importing liquefied gas (LNG) from Israel via Egypt, with a view to strengthening its energy security.
WHERE ISRAELI GAS ARRIVES
At the moment, the gas extracted in Israel is mainly used to meet internal needs and those of Egypt and Jordan. Israeli producers increased exports to Egypt this year, but volumes of liquefied fuel at the Idku and Damietta sites reaching Europe are unclear.
ISRAEL PUTS HANDS FORWARD
Last February, Israel's Energy Minister, Karine Elharrar, said she would evaluate the requests for gas supplies to the European Union, but taking care to point out that the country would not be able to send large quantities because most of the its current capacity is already committed to Egypt, Jordan and the domestic market. To increase output – and therefore supplies to Europe – it would be necessary to develop new gas deposits in the eastern Mediterranean.
AN OPPORTUNITY FOR ENI?
The use of the Egyptian liquefaction plants would allow Europe to access the fields of the eastern Mediterranean without having to commit to the construction of an expensive and politically complex gas pipeline (opposed by Turkey) such as EastMed . The hypothetical centrality of Damietta – as we wrote on Startmag – could also favor Italy, given that the plant is partly owned by Eni .
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/energia/unione-europea-gas-israele-egitto/ on Thu, 26 May 2022 14:19:21 +0000.