On the second day of the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Forum in Washington, the Minister of Environment and Energy, Mr. Stavros Papastavrou, speaking on a panel discussing the future of European energy resilience, alongside the Minister of Energy and Industry of Cyprus, Mr. Michalis Damianos. The Global Energy Forum is attended by 87 countries and 1,900 participants.
In his remarks, Mr. Papastavrou emphasized that the new energy geometry features vertical axes, strategic triangles, quadrilateral formations, and expanding circles of cooperation. And within this geometry, Greece is at the center as a strategic hub for energy, security, and stability. “When I say ‘energy geometry,’ I mean, first, the creation of the Vertical Corridor: after decades during which natural gas flowed from East to West, we now have a vertical corridor bringing American LNG to Greece and, via infrastructure through Bulgaria and Romania, reaching as far as Moldova and Ukraine.
Second, we have created a strategic triangle with Cyprus and Israel, which becomes a four-party arrangement with the participation of the U.S. Furthermore, we have a cooperation framework with the East Med Gas Forum—just the day before yesterday, we sat at the same table with representatives of the governments of Israel and Palestine. After three years, energy is once again becoming a bridge for the region. And, beyond the vertical corridor and the strategic triangle, we also have the diagonal line of IMEC. Thus, the Eastern Mediterranean and our country are in fact at the epicenter of this new geometry,” the Minister noted.
Regarding the importance of electricity interconnections, with particular reference to the GSI and GREGY projects, the Minister emphasized that “more and more countries in the region are realizing that we have more to gain by cooperating than by acting alone. Therefore, I believe that these corridors are becoming arteries of trade and prosperity for the region, and this is a very promising development.”
Regarding the instrumentalization of energy, the Minister emphasized that: “We have learned the hard way, both through the invasion of Ukraine and now with the events in the Strait of Hormuz, the systemic risk posed by the weaponization of energy. Therefore, whether it comes from Russia, Iran, or any other country, the weaponization of energy poses a systemic risk to Europe. Europe must stand united in addressing this phenomenon. The weaponization of energy affects both global and regional security and must not be tolerated.”
Following the panel, he met with Anatol Feygin, Executive Vice President of Cheniere, the largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) production and export company in the United States and the second largest globally.
He also held a bilateral meeting with Egypt’s Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Mr. Karim Badawi. Their discussion focused on the modern carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology being developed by Greece, as well as the progress of the Greece-Egypt electricity interconnection (GREGY). Mr. Papastavrou invited his Egyptian counterpart to visit Greece in July, and the latter accepted the invitation.
Mr. Papastavrou then attended the Atlantic Council’s official dinner, featuring Sheikh Nawaf Al Sabah, CEO of the Kuwait Petroleum Company, in the presence of Jarrod Agen, an associate of President Trump and Executive Director of the White House National Energy Sovereignty Council, and Amos Hochstein, an advisor to former President Biden. It should be noted that DESFA is responsible for the operation and maintenance of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal at the Al-Zour LNG Terminal in Kuwait. This is one of the largest LNG storage and regasification facilities in the world and one of the country’s most critical energy infrastructures, which, despite the ongoing war, operates continuously and efficiently.
Tomorrow, Thursday, June 11, the Minister of Environment and Energy will travel with his U.S. counterpart, Chris Wright, to Houston for the Ministerial Meeting of the 3+1 Energy Initiative, where the founding declaration of the East Med Energy Center is expected to be signed with Rice University.