[email protected]In his article, he lamented that it was in 1999 when the Italian energy giant Eni wanted to lay a gas pipeline from Libya to Sicily through Malta but they abandoned their plans because when they approached the local authorities, in his words – they found them to be “too greedy”. Security of gas supply is of particular mutual interest and reinforcing the regional trade in gas would be of significant benefit to gas producers and consumers in the EU, North Africa and the Middle East”.Readers may ask how can Malta, with no proven discovery of hydrocarbons, ever aspire to become a hub? The answer is that due to geophysical realities, the EU is looking for further diversification of gas supply sources and routes so the North African and East Mediterranean countries can be encouraged to develop their strategies for oil and gas exploration. Cyprus, Greece Egypt and Israel have recently discovered large gas fields in the Levant basin joining the growing list of gas producing countries in the area. It is encouraging to read that once Malta succeeds to attract adequate investment in its vast largely untapped acreage then operators are better equipped as they can now make use of modern technology.

Source: Libya Today April 05, 2017 15:00 UTC