Diversification of gas supply sources and routes

The EU pursues the objective of having diversified supply routes in Europe, in order to increase the security of supply, which consists in the diversification of supply routes, with the identification and construction of new gas pipeline routes. The identification of gas suppliers is the responsibility of each member country. However, the EU, in addition to encouraging diversification, can encourage the construction of new gas pipelines or support the necessary infrastructure.

Opening up the Southern Gas Corridor

Many countries in Europe are dependent on one or two suppliers for most or all of their natural gas.

EU actions for expanding the Southern Gas Corridor include:

keeping the infrastructure projects needed for the corridor on the EU's fourth list of Projects of Common Interest (PCI). These are projects which can benefit from streamlined permitting process, receive preferential regulatory treatment, and are eligible to apply for EU funding from the Connecting Europe Facility
supporting the construction of the Trans Anatolia Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) and the Trans-Adriatic-Pipeline (TAP) to transport gas from Azerbaijan to Italy via Georgia, Turkey, Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea by listing them on the PCI lists
cooperating closely with gas suppliers in the region, such as Azerbaijan
cooperating closely with transit countries including Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey and Albania
negotiating with Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan on a potential Trans-Caspian pipeline to transport gas across the Caspian Sea

TAP - Trans-Adriatic-Pipeline - Link

INITIAL CAPACITY: 10bcm/a
PIPES: 55,000
HIGHEST POINT, ALBANIA: 2,100m

This is the natural gas pipeline proposed in 2003, constructed in 2016, and operational since 2020, from Azerbaijan at the Caspian Sea to Europe from Greece through Albania and the Adriatic Sea to Italy. It is a European section of the Southern Gas Corridor.

It is operated by a Swiss joint venture and owned by BP (U.K.) (20%), SOCAR (AZ) (20%), SNAM (IT) (20%), Fluxys (BE) (19%), Enagás (ES) (16%) and Axpo (CH) (5%).

TANAP - TRANS ANATOLIAN NATURAL GAS PIPELINE - Link

The project was announced on 17 November 2011 and work started on 2015. On 12 June 2018, the TANAP was inaugurated at the compressor-measuring station in Eskisehir. On November 21, 2018, Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) and the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) have been joined along the shores of the Maritsa River at the Turkish-Greek border. As a result of the joining of these two pipelines, Azerbaijani natural gas from the Shah Deniz-2 field can be transported to Italy via Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, Greece, Albania, and the Adriatic Sea

It is operated by Azeri SOCAR and owned by SOCAR (AZ) (58%), BOTAŞ (TR) (30%), BP (U.K) (12%)

The Mediterranean gas hub

The EU and the Mediterranean countries have created a space for political dialogue and economic cooperation that goes under the name of Union for the Mediterranean, born in 2008 as a continuation of the cooperation initiated by the Barcelona Declaration of 1995.

Among the objectives is also multilateral cooperation in the field of energy. However, both as a consequence of the so-called Arab springs that began in 2010, and of the instability in the Middle East, but also of the weak political will of the EU countries, economic cooperation has been limited to a few examples and energy cooperation has never taken off as it was in the initial plans. However, the creation of a Mediterranean gas hub in southern Europe could help diversify EU energy suppliers and routes from the Mediterranean basin. No specific commitments have yet been made.

Taking into account the huge potential of Algeria, both for conventional and unconventional gas resources, as well as the new gas resources in the East Mediterranean and the associated infrastructure development plans, the Mediterranean area can act as a key source and route for supplying gas to the EU.

Israel, Egypt and Cyprus, because of their significant offshore gas reserve, make the Eastern Mediterranean region a strategic partner for the EU in its effort to diversify its gas supply routes. There are several options to bring natural gas from the region to the EU and the world market either by pipeline or as LNG. Notably, there are two Projects of Common Interest (PCIs) in gas involving the Cyprus East Med Pipeline and CyprusGas2EU LNG terminal, where the latter granted significant Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) grants at the end of 2017.

Liquefied natural gas terminals

Natural gas arrives in Europe through pipelines, which transport gaseous methane, or by ship which transport liquefied methane (LNG).

The liquefied one reaches the LNG terminals along the European coasts, where it is regasified to enter the existing distribution network. In addition to Near Eastern gas, new LNG supplies from North America, Australia, Qatar and East Africa are added.

In February 2016, the European Commission presented the EU strategy for LNG and gas storage COM (2016) 49 final.

The EU strategy consisted of identifying a number of "projects of common interest", mainly interconnectors and under the Trans-European Energy Infrastructure Regulation (EU) 347/2013, which would allow LNG suppliers to access the entire European market .