IGI Poseidon in talks with Israeli firms for East Med agreements

The IGI Poseidon consortium, a 50-50 joint venture between Greek gas utility DEPA and Italy’s Edison, is engaged in talks with Israeli companies for direct and indirect involvement in its East Med gas pipeline project, planned to transport gas from Israeli and Cypriot fields to Europe via Greece and Italy.

DEPA and Edison are holding talks with Israel Natural Gas Lines Company, Israel’s gas grid operator, which could lead to a stake in the project for the latter, energypress sources have informed.

If these talks come to fruition, then the East Med project’s planned route, covering 2,000 km, will have made an import step towards actualization, securing gas transmission from the Levantine gas field, off the coast of Israel.

Besides its talks with Israel Natural Gas Lines Company, IGI Poseidon signed a Memorandum of Cooperation on December 2 with Tahal group member TMNG, a leading Israeli natural gas EPC company serving as a one-stop shop for natural gas and oil-related projects. This agreement concerns the development of an investment plan for exports of Israeli natural gas quantities to Europe.

However, much work is still needed before the aforementioned deals, or others, begin offering benefits, officials have stressed.

A period of at least two years will be needed before a finalized investment decision can be taken, according to the IGI Poseidon board, which recently approved funding worth 70 million euros for project-maturity studies.