Israel, Cyprus and Greece mull energy pacts

The leaders of Israel, Greece and Cyprus on Monday pledged to deepen energy cooperation and explore ways to get East Mediterranean gas to Europe, as well as connect electricity grids.

The eastern Mediterranean has yielded major gas discoveries in the past decade, mostly off Israel and Egypt, with interest rising since Russia's invasion of Ukraine hit flows to Europe.

"We will have to decide soon about how Israel exports its gas and the same decisions have to be made by Cyprus. We are looking at the possibility of cooperating on this," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters in Nicosia after a tripartite summit with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides.

"Those decisions will be made, I think, in the next three to six months, probably closer to three months," he said.

Earlier this year, Cyprus suggested expediting gas to market by the creation of a short pipeline linking Israel's east Mediterranean gas fields to a liquefaction facility on Cyprus, which could then be shipped to Europe.

"We agree that natural gas and renewable energy is a prime pillar of cooperation in the region, especially in light of the recent geopolitical developments," Christodoulides said. "Especially in Europe, (it) dictates the need for energy diversification and increased interconnectivity," he said.

Netanyahu said Israel was also "eagerly pursuing" being part of a planned subsea electricity link. The European Union-supported EuroAsia Interconnector subsea cable is envisaged to carry up to 2,000 megawatts of electricity to eventually link grids from Israel and Cyprus to Greece.

"We would like to have it connected obviously to Israel, and possibly to the east of Israel," Netanyahu said.

The three countries have built strong bonds over the years, and Netanyahu said one direct example of economic bonding was through food.

"We like your food," he interjected off script as Mitsotakis finished speaking. "We like your dairy products. We like your yoghurt."

Netanyahu said authorities would soon open the country's dairy product market, which now protects local production with high import duties.

"We intend to open the dairy market very soon to Greek and Cypriot—and other—imports. May the best yoghurt win. You have a pretty good chance at winning."

 

Iran to supply Pakistan another 100MW electricity

Iranian Energy Minister Ali-Akbar Mehrabian announced completion of a power transmission line to Pakistan with the aim of boosting electricity exchanges between the two countries, IRNA reported.

The two countries signed a contract on Monday to officially use the mentioned transmission line for exchanging up to 200 megawatts (MW) of electricity in the near future.

The contract was signed in a ceremony attended by Mehrabian and his Pakistani counterpart Khurram Dastgir Khan.

"The electricity transmission line between Iran and Pakistan was designed and built in less than a year with a capacity of 200 megawatts," Mehrabian told the press on the sidelines of a meeting with Dastgir Khan prior to the signing ceremony.

“The necessary experiments and tests have been carried out on this line and it is now electrified,” he said.

"In today's meeting with the minister of energy of Pakistan, there were good discussions about the exchange of electricity through this line," Mehrabian added.

The official put the current value of annual trade between the two countries at over two billion dollars, adding that with the construction of this line, the volume of electricity exchanges between the two countries will increase to 200 megawatts which will be a significant boost for the economic ties.

Dastgir Khan for his part referred to his previous trip to Iran saying, “In this trip, the progress of the previous agreements regarding electricity exchanges between the two countries through the electricity transmission line was pursued and efforts were made to reach a final agreement.”

Emphasizing the necessity of developing and deepening the relations between the two countries he added, "It is hoped that we will witness the development of electricity exchanges between the two countries with the final agreement following the formation of technical and commercial teams."

This was the second meeting of the energy ministers of the two neighboring countries in less than a year. Dastgir Khan met with Mehrabian during his trip to Tehran last June.

 

 

Iran can fulfill Pakistan’s energy needs, says President Raisi

According to Tasnim News Agency, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi expressed the country’s readiness to satisfy Pakistan’s demand for oil, gas and electricity. In a meeting with Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, held in Tehran, Raisi hailed the close ties between the two neighbors, saying the people of Iran and Pakistan are like relatives.

“We consider Pakistan’s security to be our own security,” he said, adding, “Some do not like the good relations between the two Muslim, neighboring, friendly and brotherly nations, but the development of relations leads to economic prosperity and more security for the nations of the region.”

There are no restrictions in Tehran for the development of relations with Islamabad, Raisi noted, saying, “We are ready to promote comprehensive cooperation with Pakistan and the Islamic Republic of Iran has the necessary capacity to meet Pakistan’s needs in various fields, including oil, gas and electricity.”

The Iranian president called the fields of energy, transit and cooperation and coordination in the regional issues and crises as important aspects of relations between the two countries, his official website reported.

For his part, Bilawal expressed satisfaction with the visit to Iran, adding, “As much as I am a child of Pakistan, I am also a child of Iran.”

Thanking Iran for exporting electricity to Pakistan, the Foreign Minister said, “We are fully prepared to complete and conclude the previous talks in the fields of security, trade and energy.”

Pakistani Foreign Minister also praised the government of Iran for its assistance in extinguishing the widespread wildfires in Pakistan’s Baluchistan province.