Papanastasiou talks ‘speeding up’ natural gas exploitation with Egyptian petrol minister

Energy Minister George Papanastasiou on Thursday discussed ways to “speed up” the exploitation of natural gas discoveries in Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) with Egypt’s Petroleum Minister Karim Badawi.

Badawi visited Cyprus upon Papanastasiou’s invite, with Thursday’s meeting being their first since Badawi was appointed to his post in July.

The pair discussed the possibility of using Egypt’s existing infrastructure to aid the process of extracting and exploiting Cyprus’ natural gas, with the possibility of transporting gas from Cyprus’ EEZ to Egypt to be liquefied and then exported to the rest of the world.

A meeting between delegations from both Cyprus and Egypt also took place, with the groups discussing international and regional developments in the energy sector, as well as the need for “further strengthening of cooperation” between the two countries.

The aim of this planned deeper cooperation, the Cypriot government said, is the creation of “a reliable energy corridor between the Eastern Mediterranean and Europe”, which would allow for “the transport of natural gas and green energy”.