Greece stands as vital geostrategic component of the TAP (Trans Adriatic Pipeline) project – to carry natural gas from Azerbaijan to Europe, via Greece, Albania, and the Adriatic Sea – as the country represents the pipeline’s entry into Europe, DESFA (Natural Gas Transmission System Operator) chief executive officer Konstantinos Xifaras told an industry event staged yesterday at the International Hellenic University in Thessaloniki.

Xifaras noted that the TAP project would be the first pipeline infrastructure project to cross Greek territory after a number of unsuccessful efforts, for other pipelines, in the past.

The gas company head proposed long-term investment agreements for hydrocarbon projects in Greece, covering periods such as ten or twenty years, rather than two or three years.

Commenting on natural gas price levels and their impact on competitiveness, Xifaras noted that “if we can’t negotiate better natural gas prices, either as the European Union or as Greece, then we can’t expect to see anything positive in terms of the Greek economy’s competitiveness”.