Expert: Greece in better pipeline position

ATHENS, Greece, Aug. 22 (UPI) -- Greece's move to privatize its incumbent natural gas distributor could help it gain leverage in still-fluid southern energy corridor plans, a U.S. expert says.

Alexandros Petersen, an adviser to the European Energy Security Initiative at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, wrote Saturday in the Athens daily I Kathimerini that, until now, Greece, though its state-owned gas company DEPA, was committed to the proposed Interconnector Greece-Italy pipeline -- one of three southern corridor pipelines on the drawing board.

EU puts energy at top of agenda

BRUSSELS, Feb. 8 (UPI) -- Nothing is more important to European energy security than power and natural gas transports, the European energy commissioner said from Brussels.

The European community is looking for ways to break the Russian grip on the energy sector. Market vulnerabilities were exposed most recently in 2009 when disputes between Kiev and Moscow over gas contracts prompted Russian gas company Gazprom to cut supplies through Ukraine's gas transmission network.

SOCAR takes part in European Gas Conference

The State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) has taken part in the European Gas Conference held in Vienna. Head of the SOCAR Austria Office Gulmirza Javadov delivered a report on increasing role of the oil and gas industry in Azerbaijan.

The conference agenda included issues of European gas supply security, new alternative energy sources and transport potential, Russia's role in providing Europe with gas, and the Caspian region in the context of European energy security.

During his address, Javadov noted Azerbaijan's increasing role in the context of regional and global energy security, as well as the successes achieved by the republic in this field.
Meanwhile, the White Stream, Nabucco, ITGI and TAP project managers noted the significance of the concept of the South Corridor for the EU.

The conference was held on Jan. 25-28. It was attended by Austrian Federal Minister for Economy R. Mitterlehner, former German Foreign Minister J. Fischer, Turkish Deputy Energy Minister S. Cimen, Russian State Duma Deputy Chairman V. Yazev, Secretary General of the Energy Charter, A. Mernier and others.

Source: http://en.trend.az