LIQUEFIED NATURAL GAS

Commissioning of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) on time was very crucial, Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources Geoffrey Pyatt told Greek media, Trend reports.

He believes that this enabled Europe to successfully pass the winter test.

Pyatt went on to add that liquified natural gas supplies also played an important role in Europe’s energy diversification.

China’s top liquefied natural gas (LNG) importers are cautiously looking to purchase additional Russian shipments that have been shunned by the market in a bid to take advantage of cheap prices.

Europe will not be able to completely abandon Russian gas, but it needs to look for alternatives to supplies from Gazprom, Trend reports citing “The Economist”.

Since the start of the year, wholesale gas prices in Europe have risen by 250 percent. The record-high prices in Europe are driven by increased demand (due to the wider economic recovery and weather-related factors), competition with Asia for LNG, and a limited supply response from Gazprom, Europe’s largest supplier, providing about a third of Europe’s gas. The current gas supply crunch in Europe once again showed the importance of diversification of gas supply routes and sources.

Northern Macedonia intends to build a gas pipeline to connect with Bulgaria to gain access to Azerbaijani gas, Trend.az reports, citing the “Central European Financial Observer”.

According to the announcement, representatives of the chambers of commerce and industry of Northern Macedonia and Bulgaria, have come up with a common initiative to build a gas pipeline, that will connect the town of Strumica with the neighboring Bulgarian town of Petrich.