An EU-sponsored survey last year estimated that the 2,000-km pipeline would cost $5.7bn. The project aims to connect the Israeli Leviathan gas field, the offshore Cypriot Aphrodite gas field and possibly other gas fields to buyers in southern Europe.

The European Commission website shows a map with a line starting east of Cyprus and running to Crete and from there upthe west coast of mainland Greece to the Adriatic, ending in Italy.

The pipeline would have a 12bn m³/yr capacity, with the goal being that the project is built by private-sector companies without public funding, although with the moral support of the European Union.

As energy periodical Natural Gas World reports, Russian oil major Rosneft has also talked about piping gas from Egypt to Europe, an idea which is unlikely to meet with the same degree of support from the European Commission given the strong position Russia already holds in gas supplies.

Source: InCyprus