The old plan to export Egyptian LNG to Greece and from there to Europe, using the Vertical Corridor infrastructure, is being “revived” by Cairo, which is trying to re-establish itself as a natural gas hub for the Mediterranean.
The issue was brought back to the table by the country’s Oil Minister, Karim Badawi, who, speaking at the East Med Gas Forum (EMGF) held in Washington, attended by a total of eight countries in the region—but with Turkey conspicuously absent—he spoke of Cairo’s intention to export LNG to Greece.
As Eni’s recent discoveries in Egypt reignite hopes for a recovery in domestic production, Badawi spoke of the North African country’s intention to connect the Eastern Mediterranean natural gas systems with the Old Continent, with the aim of exporting Egyptian LNG to our country and transporting it to Central and Eastern Europe via the Vertical Corridor.
Exports of Egyptian LNG via the Vertical Corridor, along with progress on the GREGY power interconnection, were also on the agenda of the meeting he had with Greek Energy Minister St. Papastavrou yesterday afternoon in Washington.
The issue of Egyptian LNG exports to Southeast Europe via Greece using the country’s terminals (Revythousa, Alexandroupolis FSRU) is a longstanding one and has been discussed from time to time in meetings between Mitsotakis - Al-Sisi, but it has never materialized to date.
The worst economic crisis Cairo has experienced in recent years, culminating in the appeal to the IMF (2022), resulted in a decline in natural gas production, a fact that, combined with rising domestic energy demand, led the country to become a net importer of LNG.
For the past few months, however, Egypt has been pushing forward with a plan to attract new investments from foreign companies, which have scaled back their presence in the country after years of waiting for the government to settle its debts to them.
In this context, Cairo has decided to allow foreign energy producers to export their share of local gas production in the form of LNG, so that they can collect the debts owed to them and continue investing in the country’s hydrocarbon sector.
Such opportunities, along with the prospects created by the strategic Greece-U.S. energy agreement, were discussed by the chair of the East Med Gas Forum, St. Papastavrou, which took place in Washington following a joint invitation with his American counterpart Chris Wright.
The Forum may not have produced any “big news,” but it is significant that it met again after three years of inactivity and, above all, that in the midst of war, countries with differing views on the operations conducted by the U.S. and Israel in Iran sat at the same table.
In addition to Greece, which held the presidency, Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Italy, and France participated, along with the U.S., the European Union, and the World Bank. The Israeli and Palestinian delegations sat at the same table for the first time since 2023.
Nor does the fact go unnoticed that Turkey remains outside the EMGF framework. Ankara’s demand to approve every major energy project in the region and to act as a “traffic cop” in major deals in the Eastern MediterraneanMediterranean puts it at odds not only with neighboring countries but also with the very philosophy of the Forum, which concerns the creation of an architecture of energy cooperation.
“The Greek Presidency highlights the leadership role we are recognized for in the energy sector in the Eastern Mediterranean. We are building a framework for cooperation with full respect for international law, based on mutually accepted principles and commercial rules that strengthen stability and discourage unilateral and revisionist behavior,” was the clear message from the Greek Minister of Energy, He reiterated this message yesterday while speaking on Fox Business.
Tomorrow, Thursday, Mr. Papastavrou will meet in Houston with Chevron’s leadership; speaking on the American channel and on the show “Mornings with Maria” with journalist Maria Bartiromo, he conveyed the message that the processes are moving quickly.
The expectation of the Greek side, which is rushing to complete the formalities so that the transfer of Hellenic Energy’s 70% stake in “Block 2” (Kyparissia) to Chevron can be finalized as soon as possible, is that drilling will begin there within 1–2 years.