Israel Natural Gas Lines Ltd. (INGL) today signed an addendum to the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with IGI Poseidon for the design of the EastMed pipeline connection to INGL’s transmission system.
In the addendum to the MOU signed today, the parties have now anchored their agreement on the configuration for execution of the project and, in this context, it was agreed that it would be connected to the transmission system in Israel.
Construction of the project in the manner agreed by the parties will in the future allow the flow of natural gas from the natural gas suppliers connected to the transmission system where, according to the addendum signed, the parties will work to promote the planning and licensing of the facilities to be built under the project within the area of Israel’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
The agreement for the construction of the EastMed pipeline was devised by the Minister of Energy, Dr. Yuval Steinitz, together with his counterparts in Cyprus, Greece and Italy. The agreement, the first of its kind, creates the trilateral unity between Israel, Greece and Cyprus under the auspices of the European Union.
This agreement is an addendum to the MOU between the companies signed on 5 November 2019 for connecting Israel’s EEZ via the EastMed pipeline to Greece, Italy, Cyprus and Central Europe, in a manner that will allow the export of natural gas from Israel to Europe. The contractual agreement between the companies is a continuation of the cooperation between the governments of Israel, Greece and Cyprus signed in January 2020, which establishes the commitments and collaboration among the three countries in materializing the project.
The EastMed pipeline project comprises approx. 1,300 kms of a subsea pipeline, of which approx. 145 kms lie in the territorial waters and EEZ of Israel, and another approx. 600 kms of an onshore pipeline in Greece,. The project, which received partial funding from the European Union for some of the expenses of the development phase, once established, is expected to allow transmission of approx. 11 BCM annually by Poseidon in Phase A, and approx. 20 BCM annually according to future demand.
Minister of Energy, Dr. Yuval Steinitz: “This is another step in the realization of the important international venture that I am leading – the underwater Israel-Europe gas pipeline (the EastMed pipeline project). Israeli gas transmission company INGL is teaming up with European company IGI Poseidon in the planning of this huge project. Although only a small part of the pipeline will traverse the territorial waters of the State of Israel, there is considerable political importance to having the footprint of an Israeli company in an international project that will connect the countries of the Middle East with the countries of the European Union via a joint gas infrastructure.”
INGL CEO, Mr. Samuel Tordjman : “In the last two years INGL has acted to connect the EastMed pipeline to INGL’s gas transmission system. This connection will enable equal access to all of Israel’s existing and future gas discoveries, thus creating a significant and competitive export channel, which will encourage the development of further gas reservoirs. This is an important strategic move for the Israeli gas sector and for the State of Israel. As a government-held company, INGL is proud to promote another step in this important project under the leadership of the Ministry of Energy.”