US Ambassador to Greece
Geoffrey Pyatt said on
December 4 that Greece would be the third European country to begin
importing American liquefied natural gas (LNG), after Poland and
Lithuania.
Speaking at the Greek Economy conference organised by the
American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Athens, the American
diplomat said the Greek government has promised to import LNG from the
United States.
"Energy is an obvious area of growth. There is clear interest from
American companies, and I’m also encouraged that there is such a
convergence between US and Greek policy views on this critical sector,”
Pyatt said.
The US diplomat reminded that US President
Donald Trump and Greek Prime Minister
Alexis Tsipras discussed
during the latter’s visit to Washington DC, America’s "commitment and
optimism” for the Greek energy sector as a way to accelerate the
Mediterranean country’s economic recovery. US Secretary of State
Rex Tillerson also highlighted this energy issue during his speech on European policy at the Wilson Center last week.
"Greece is at the tipping point in terms of establishing itself as a
major European energy hub,” Pyatt said, citing natural gas projects like
the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), the Floating Storage Regasification
Unit (FSRU) in Alexandroupolis, the upgraded Revithousa terminal and the
Greece Bulgaria Interconnector (IGB) as examples of Greece’s energy
potential.
"You also see it in upstream projects now moving forward, in the
hydrocarbon sector, but also renewables where we have increased interest
recently from big American companies like General Electric (GE),” the
US Ambassador said.
"I was very glad to hear European Commission Vice President (for Energy Union
Maroš)
Šefčovič’s
remarks at the recent Greek Energy Forum here in Athens. Our speeches
were nearly mirror images of each other and showed the real convergence
of interests on energy issues between Europe and the US. We agreed on
the importance of energy diversification, on Greece’s regional role, and
a point that the Prime Minister made in the US, which is that, in
looking at energy diversification in Europe, almost every major new
energy route coming into Europe will pass through Greece,” Pyatt said,
adding that the policies and practices that the Greek government will
put into place are critical not just for this country but for the larger
vision of European energy security and diversification.
"The IGB Interconnector for instance, has the potential to open up
the whole Balkan energy island, using Greece as the entry point to get
away from the current dependence on monopoly suppliers that
characterises many of the Balkan countries,” said Pyatt, who has
advocated the need for the EU to lessen Europe’s dependence on gas
supplies from Russia’s Gazprom.
https://www.neweurope.eu/article/poland-lithuania-greece-become-3rd-eu-country-import-american-lng/