DESFA, the Natural Gas Transmission System Operator, is focused on establishing Greece as a regional gas hub in southeastern Europe, while the operator is also contributing to the local gas market’s liberalization, the company’s chief executive, Konstantinos Xifaras, has told an energy conference in Athens.

The DESFA chief, who delivered a speech at an event this week titled “Recent Developments in the Greek Gas and Power Markets”, organized by the Research Center for Energy Management (RCEM) with support from the Greek Energy Forum, a network of energy professionals sharing a common interest in the broader energy industry in Greece and Southeastern Europe, said future initiatives to be taken by DESFA will allow for full liberalization of Greece’s gas market.

Xifaras also noted that DESFA’s business plan, one backed by export-oriented motives, was being successfully implemented.

Commenting on the EU’s objective for a fully integrated European gas market, the DESFA chief executive told the conference that investment in energy infrastructure was crucially important for both energy supply security on the continent as well as increased competition in gas supply trading activity.

Xifaras said projects such as the upgrade of a LNG facility in Revythoussa, an islet in the Saronic Gulf, close to Athens, and interconnection of pipeline infrastructure are necessary components for Greece’s development as a regional gas hub.

“Regardless of the Greek market’s size, we all need to work systematically to establish Greece’s crucial role for the proper functioning of southeast Europe’s energy markets,” Xifaras remarked. “DESFA is ready to overcome all obstacles and contribute in all possible ways to the integration of the European gas market.”