Leaders of Cyprus, Greece and Israel have reached an interstate agreement on building a $7 bln EastMed pipeline, during Thursday’s summit held in Beer Sheva.
CNA said the deal on the pipeline, which aims to connect Israel, Cyprus, Greece and Italy needs to get the approval of the European Commission first.
The signing of the agreement is expected to take place within the first three months of 2019.
The agreement also contains important references regarding the security of energy infrastructure.
Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras are discussing energy security and cyber technology at the summit in Israel.
The three leaders started earlier on Thursday their meetings in Beer Sheva. A bilateral meeting between the delegations of Cyprus and Israel has been concluded.
The trilateral meeting, in the presence of will take place over lunch, in the presence of the US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman.
The gas pipeline project estimated to cost over $7 bln, is to connect Israel and Cyprus natural gas reserves of the two countries and mainland Europe.
Reportedly, the European Union has agreed to invest $100 mln in a feasibility study for the project before agreeing on the placement of the longest and deepest submarine gas pipeline in the world.
The agreement will see that Israel and Cyprus are preferred over other countries when importing natural gas to the European market.
According to Israeli reports, work on the EastMed pipeline will begin over the next few months and is expected to be completed within five years.
The EastMed pipeline will begin about 170 kilometers off the southern coast of Cyprus and will stretch for 2,200 kilometers to reach Otranto in Italy through Crete and mainland Greece.
EastMed is expected to play a significant part in assuring Europe’s supply of natural gas, as annual needs are expected to increase by 100 billion m³ by 2030.
The pipeline will have the ability to transport up to 20 billion m³ of natural gas from the Eastern Mediterranean to Europe annually.
