Blog – Full Width | AEA-Albania Energy Association

August 31, 2015

by AEA

Gas diplomacy in the Balkans…

Natural gas diplomacy in the Balkans is set to intensify, the result of more initiatives put forward by the United States and Russia.

In Greece, which has just entered yet another pre-election period, Energy Minister Panagiotis Skourletis met with U.S. Ambassador David Pearce to discuss proposed energy infrastructure projects in the region, namely the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB) and the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP).

Sources say both sides agreed to speed up the approval process for each project bringing Greece’s proposal to become an energy hub, with increased imports and redistribution of Azeri gas, one step closer to reality. The U.S. diplomat also arranged a meeting between Skourletis and Amos Hochstein, Special Envoy and Coordinator for International Energy Affairs leading the Bureau of Energy Resources (ENR) at the U.S. Department of State. Hochstein is known for spending considerable amounts of time meeting policy makers in Southeast Europe and promoting U.S. energy interests from a national security perspective, which is clearly a geopolitical concern and not one influenced by market forces or business logic.

From this perspective, the upcoming visit to Athens all but guarantees a new round of discussions between the Americans and Greeks. At a May meeting with former Greek Energy Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis, Hochstein publicly disapproved of the proposed Turkish Stream and the envisaged Greek stream offshoot, which would deliver Gazprom’s commodity via the Southern Balkans. He also said the Southern Corridor projects (TANAP & TAP) were realistic while Turkish Stream was not. Sources suggest the State Department is worried about continuous delays to the IGB project, the result of slow decision-making processes in Greece and Bulgaria. Additionally, the American side is also interested in achieving greater understanding of Greece’s energy relations, especially with Moscow.

Nonetheless, the Vedomosti newspaper reported that Greece, FYROM, Serbia, and Hungary are on the verge of signing a joint memorandum of cooperation on Turkish Stream and its Balkan route. Serbian media have already named part of the route as the “Tesla Pipeline” in an obvious attempt to “nationalize” the section that will pass through Serbia. Insiders suggest the Greek, Serbian, and Hungarian foreign ministers will meet in Belgrade in September to announce an agreement that will see the exact route formalized. It should be noted the foreign ministers, not energy ministers, have taken the lead on this file. This is especially relevant to Greece where a schism exists between Skourletis and Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias in terms of which project should be favoured more.

Meanwhile, Bulgarian Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova has announced new efforts to push forward with South Stream, recently telling local media the project still remains a major goal for the country. Kiril Domuschiev, head of the Confederation of Employers and Industrialists in Bulgaria, noted that pipework for South Stream could also be used for Turkish Stream or any other project involving both Bulgaria and Gazprom. He added that no one would stop Bulgaria from doing business with Russia.

All in all, a new round of diplomatic bras de fer commences in the Balkans between the U.S. and Russia whilst the real players, the consumers in major EU markets, eagerly await the completion of their own projects.

August 31, 2015

by AEA

Europe to Fund Balkan Transport, Energy Projects

Following the Vienna summit, the Western Balkans has been promised 200 million euro in co-financing for 10 transport and energy projects, to improve growth and energy security.

After the Western Balkans summit, which took place in Vienna on August 27, it has been announced that European institutions will grant around 200 million euro for 10 transport and energy infrastructure projects in six Western Balkans countries.

The total value of the agreed projects is around 600 million euro and they are to be conducted in Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Albania, Kosovo and Bosnia.

The projects will be co-financed under the 2015 Instrument for Pre-Accession programme, IPA, and Western Balkans Investments Framework and by European financial institutions such as the European Investment Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, EBRD, and the German government-owned development bank, KfW.

The Western Balkans Investments Framework was developed jointly with the European Commission, the EBRD and the Council of Europe development bank, as well as by EU member states and Western Balkan countries themselves.

Among the projects to be developed with EU financial help are the Albania-Macedonia power interconnection and the grid section of Trans-Balkan Electricity Corridor in Montenegro and Serbia.

Twenty-four different other infrastructure projects were confirmed as of great importance for the region.

Completion of these projects should stimulate GDP growth by 1 per cent in each Western Balkan country and create around 200,000 new jobs in total, Serbian media reported.

Among the so-called “pre-identified” projects are the highway from Nis in Serbia to the Albanian coastal city of Durres through to the Kosovo capital of Pristina and the highway from Croatia to the Greek border via Montenegro and Albania.

The EU will also co-finance the Bosnia-Croatia road interconnection on the Mediterranean corridor as well as the rail interconnection between Serbia and Macedonia.

Western Balkans officials voiced satisfaction with the offer.

Milo Djukanovic, the Montenegrin Prime Minister, said his country stood to get 45 million euro from the EU for improving rail transport and electric transmission.

He said that without economic support from European institutions, the Western Balkans could not truly develop and provide a better life for its citizens.

“I consider this a very valuable contribution of the EU to the further improvement of transport and railway infrastructure,” Djukanovic said.

Mijat Lakicevic, a Belgrade-based economist, said it was a good news that the EU will co-finance some projects since regional transport infrastructure is worse now than it was 20 or 30 years ago. “Infrastructure is a precondition for development,” Lakicevic told BIRN.

On the other hand, he warned that 200 million euro was not enough to go round the entire region.

“We also have a problem with the quality of proposed projects and the region is already faced with unsuccessful and unfinished projects,” Lakicevic said.

The summit in Vienna is a part of the Berlin Process, a five-year process started last August and marked by yearly summits in order to underline the EU’s commitment to enlargement.

The focus of the initiative is on the six Balkan countries that are not yet EU members: Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. The next summit is scheduled for France next year.

August 28, 2015

by AEA

EU Western Balkans boost energy ties

At the Western Balkans Summit in Vienna, European Commission Vice-President for Energy Union Maroš Šefčovič was expected to look for ways to boost energy infrastructure and connectivity as well as regional cooperation. Non-EU members Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, FYROM, Montenegro and Serbia are looking to integrate with the European Union’s energy system.

A European Commission spokeswoman told New Europe on August 27 that the member states agree and endorse five projects, which have been pre-selected by the energy ministers of the Western Balkan countries already, and this list of priority projects will now be consorted on highest level.

These projects are: Albania – FYROM electricity interconnection, Serbia – Montenegro – Bosnia and Herzegovina electricity interconnection, Serbia – Romania electricity interconnection, Trans-Balkan electricity corridor in Serbia and the Serbia-Bulgaria gas interconnection which is linked to the Interconnection Pipeline from Nis in Serbia to Dimitrovgrad in Bulgaria.

“It’s a selection of key projects which are important for the Western Balkan region to interconnect the Western Balkans with the internal markets and to adapt the necessary infrastructure. These are the projects on the table now,” the spokeswoman said, adding that Šefčovič was expected to discuss the energy infrastructure projects on the level of the energy/economic ministers meeting on August 27.

“The energy union does not stop at the Union’s borders. That’s why we spare no effort to better connect the Western Balkans to our own energy systems,” Šefčovič has said.

Independent consultant Peter Poptchev, a long-time Bulgarian ambassador-at-large for energy security, told New Europe on August 27 that the Bulgaria-Serbia Interconnector is vitally important to a fully functioning energy market in Southeast Europe and to the Energy Union in the region.

“This would be the interconnection that would maximise the ‘market opening’ effect of IGB [Interconnector Greece Bulgaria], new LNG terminals in Greece and Croatia and any new long-haul trans-border pipelines like TAP [Trans Adriatic Pipeline], South Stream, Turkish Stream or Eastring. The BSI and other such interconnectivity infrastructure, including, preferably, jointly-owned storage facilities, would help the countries n SEE to move from the present declaratory to a cooperation and gradual integration of substance,” Poptchev said. He added that he favours expanding the capacity of the projected pipeline, which is planned to carry about 1.8 billion cubic metres of gas annually in both directions.

While in Vienna, Šefčovič was also expected to meet Ukrainian Energy Minister Volodymyr Demchyshyn to discuss the resumption of gas talks between Kiev and Moscow, mediated by Brussels. Ukraine wants to top up its gas storage before the start of winter, while Gazprom is under growing pressure due to falling gas and oil prices as well as an anti-trust probe launched by the European Commission against the Russian gas giant.

Šefčovič will meet the Ukrainian Energy Minister later on August 27. “The bilateral gas talks will start very late afternoon and depending on the outcome and the discussions we will issue late night statement on the Ukrainian situation,” the Commission spokeswoman said.

“We don’t have a date for the trilateral yet. The idea is that we talk with the Ukrainian side today. We have a second bilateral with the Russian side on September 11 and only then we will be able to see if there is enough political will to come together in a trilateral meeting. We don’t have a date yet,” she said.

August 28, 2015

by AEA

EU urged to help Western Balkans phase out coal

As leaders meet in Vienna to discuss closer cooperation, they must address the energy transition, argues CAN Europe

The EU should use its influence with Western Balkan states to wean them off coal.

That was the message of Climate Action Network Europe in a report issued to coincide with a summit in Vienna on Thursday.

German chancellor Angela Merkel and EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini assured leaders of the six countries of their commitment to closer integration.

“I see strong political will, both in the region and in Europe, to make this happen,” Mogherini said at the summit.

Coming as at least 20 migrants were found dead in a lorry in Austria, the meeting prioritised efforts to manage the flows of people escaping conflict-hit states in the Middle East and Africa.

But Maros Sefcovic, vice president of “energy union” at the European Commission, was also there to promote cooperation on energy matters.

Membership conditions

Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia are home to 20 million people and have relatively carbon-intensive economies.

All are seeking EU membership, but first they must meet economic and political conditions, including cleaning up their act on human rights.

Brussels should make sure climate action is on the list, CAN argued, to make sure Western Balkan states do not stay locked into polluting coal-based energy systems.

“Recent lack of tangible progress in the accession talks results in the Western Balkan countries losing appetite for much needed energy system reforms,” said Dragana Mileusnic, the NGO’s energy policy coordinator for South East Europe.

“They are locking their dirty energy systems into outdated and heavily polluting coal infrastructure for decades to come.

“Moreover, the EU’s influence in the region is taken over by Chinese investors, participating in nearly every new coal project planned.”

Coal’s share of energy and electricity production in the Western Balkans, EU and OECD (Source: IEA)

All the states except Albania depend on coal for more than half of their electricity generation, with stark health, economic and climate consequences.

Air pollution knocks a third off Serbia’s GDP, according to the World Health Organization, based on the cost of related death and disease.

Yet the country is planning 2.5 gigawatts of coal power plants, more than half its electricity generation pipeline. Across the region, 6GW of power stations are due to be built by 2030.

Many have attracted Chinese investment, while the World Bank is reportedly backing a plant in Kosovo, despite its policy of phasing out coal support.

Share of coal in planned electricity generation capacity (Source: Energy Community, CEE Bankwatch)

As part of its energy union strategy, Brussels is seeking to coordinate with neighbouring states.

While it is supposed to line up with the bloc’s climate policy, the focus has been on energy security and reducing reliance on Russian gas.

On Poland’s insistence, this included a push for “indigenous fuel” such as coal and gas, as well as diversifying gas supply routes.

That dismayed environmentalists, who argued energy efficiency and renewables were the way to go.

Mileusnic of CAN Europe called on Sefcovic to use the Vienna summit to make “more than a cosmetic change” to energy systems in the region.

Report: Europe’s “energy union” leader talks tough on Russia

It should also be pressing Western Balkan states to commit to greenhouse gas emissions cuts in line with EU ambition, CAN said.

National contributions are to form the backbone of a global carbon-cutting deal due in Paris this December.

To date, only Serbia has submitted a climate pledge to the UN, promising to cut emissions 9.8% by 2030 on 1990 levels.

Sefcovic hailed the move as “an exemplary step” on the path to EU membership.

But CAN said the figure was “far too low” and not compatible with the rest of the continent.

The EU is committed to 40% cuts, with even the poorest member states targeting at least 25% as their share.

By Megan Darby

August 27, 2015

by AEA

Bulgaria seeks to attract Azerbaijani investment in energy sector.

Bulgaria intends to attract Azerbaijani investment in its energy sector. The Bulgarian government has delivered a package of energy cooperation projects to Azerbaijan, Emil Karimov said.

The Azerbaijani ambassador to Bulgaria told Trend on August 26 that the Azerbaijani side was offered to participate in the construction of filling stations, to invest in the construction of oil and gas storage facilities, and refineries.

“Currently, the Azerbaijani side is examining these projects and their profitability,” he said.

The ambassador went on to add that the energy cooperation is one of important areas of cooperation between Bulgaria and Azerbaijan.

“Bulgaria is interested in purchasing Azerbaijani gas. The government plans to purchase gas in the volume of one billion cubic meters a year. In the future, these volumes can be increased,” he said.

Currently, the negotiations on the Azerbaijani gas supply through the Greece-Bulgaria Interconnector are underway.

“Bulgaria intends to build a pipeline, which will be connected with the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline) in the future,” he said. “Azerbaijani gas will be delivered to Europe via this pipeline. Thus, Bulgaria will be able to receive gas from Azerbaijan.”

The Greece-Bulgaria Interconnector is a gas pipeline that will allow Bulgaria to receive Azerbaijani gas, mostly from the second stage of development of Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz gas and condensate field.

The IGB will connect to the Trans-Adriatic pipeline, providing a steady flow of natural gas from Shah Deniz in the Caspian to European markets.

In January 2014, TAP and the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria Company – which is in charge of the development, financing, and construction of the IGB – signed a memorandum of understanding and cooperation.

The MoU will allow cooperation between the two companies who will work together on finding a possible connection point in the vicinity of Komotini, Greece. This will enable new gas supplies to flow into the Bulgarian gas network and further into South Eastern Europe.

The TAP project is a part of the Southern Gas Corridor that allows Europe to diversify its hydrocarbon supply sources and strengthen energy security.

TAP will transport natural gas from the giant Shah Deniz II field in Azerbaijan to Europe. The approximately 870 km-long pipeline will connect to the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline at the Turkish-Greek border in the city of Kipoi, cross Greece, Albania, and the Adriatic Sea, before coming ashore in Southern Italy.

Azerbaijan and Bulgaria have developed friendly relations after Bulgaria recognized the independence of Azerbaijan in January 1992.

Diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in June 1992 and the Embassy of Bulgaria in Azerbaijan was opened in December 1999.

Bulgaria and Azerbaijan have the potential for a much greater trade turnover than current figures show. In 2014, the Azerbaijan State Statistics Committee reported that trade between the two countries amounted to $124.596 million.

By Aynur Karimova

Balkans, Black Sea & the Adriatic Oil & Gas 2015 Summit

August 20, 2015

by AEA

Black Sea and East Mediterranean 2015 – licensing rounds and tenders

Media Parter: Black Sea 13.06.2015


	Dear Sir/Madam,
	Black Sea and East Mediterranean – licensing rounds and tenders
	Executives from 11 key countries, represented through national oil companies or ministerial speakers from Greece, Cyprus, Israel, Turkey, Lebanon, Egypt, Libya, Romania, Georgia, Russia and Albania will be speaking about licensing rounds, tenders and new opportunities at the Global Oil&Gas Black Sea and Mediterranean Conference and Exhibition, taking place on 23 – 24 September 2015 in Athens, Greece. > Register as a delegate > Complimentary visitor registration to the exhibition is now open > View the conference programme Black Sea and Mediterranean licensing rounds and tender guide There are 20 blocks available in Greece’s second international licensing round for blocks in the Ionian and Mediterranean seas. There is also a pre-qualification tender out to supply gas compressors in Greece and Albania. A pre-qualification tender for EPCI works on the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline’s offshore section between Albania and Italy is on offer, for a 105 km stretch of 36 inch pipeline. The tender also includes landfall civil works in Albania. EU cash is coming to Bulgaria. The European Commission approved a €150 million package on July 14 that will fund expansion of the Chiren gas storage facility. New legislation is being worked on to improve Lebanon’s tax policy regarding oil and gas exploration. This is expected to pass through parliament this year. Cyprus is looking towards LNG imports in the short-term. The government is at late-stage negotiations with a number of bidders over an LNG supply deal – a decision should be made by the end of August. > Register as a delegate To register, click here. Alternatively for more information, please contact me. Remember to inform your colleagues that complimentary visitor registration to the exhibition is also now open. Kind regards,
	Andrew Miller Event Sales Executive ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… +44 (0) 207 596 5152\| og@ite-events.com \| www.oilgas-events.com ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ITE Group plc \| 105 Salusbury Road \| London \| NW6 6RG \| UK \| Join us on Linkedin ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
	ITE Group Plc, 105 Salusbury Road, London, NW6 6RG