by Oui
Sun Jan 2nd, 2022 at 04:12:06 PM EST
East dictates West and cuts Gazprom as source ... prefer Star Striped LNG tankers crossing the big pond to supply a subsidized New Europe.
Turkey extends operations of energy drill ship off Cyprus until mid-October | ME Monitor - Sept. 15, 2020 |
Recent Turkish Naval Harassment of Greece and Cyprus | JINSA - Oct. 2021 |
EU agrees to subsidise two major fossil gas pipelines, fails to kick fossil fuel industry out of decision-making
The TEN-E regulation lays out the process for identifying key energy infrastructure projects, including gas pipelines and LNG terminals, for funding and fast-tracking.
The final deal between negotiators from the European Commission, Council and Parliament agrees to subsidize and fast-track the Melita and EastMed pipelines.
The Melita pipeline has been linked to the man charged in relation to the murder of Daphne Carauna Galizia. The Maltese businessman Yorgen Fenech was previously a director of ElectroGas, the company that operates the Delimara power station, and along with his family owns a key stake in the company. He has denied playing any part in her killing. Galizia's family last week called on the EU to remove the project from the list.
Meanwhile the proposed EastMed pipeline depends on fossil gas extracted by a British-Israeli company whose founders participated in, and benefitted from, a banking scheme that allegedly helped crash the Cypriot economy.
The decision comes just weeks after the EU committed to phase out 'inefficient' fossil fuel subsidies as part of the final agreement of the COP26 climate talks.
Energean PLC UK - founded and run by Mathios Rigas and Efstathios Topouzoglou - struck a deal with the owners of the EU-backed EastMed pipeline in 2020 to transport the gas they plan to extract from Israeli waters into Greece via EastMed. For now, no other company has promised to use the pipeline, meaning its success depends on Energean's gas. Energean itself stands to benefit from the pipeline that would provide a crucial route to the European market for its gas.
Energean: Israel-backed Greek oil company hungry for Mediterranean gas | Corporate Watch |
- Energean's biggest shareholder is Third Point, a "vulture fund" owned by US billionaire Daniel Loeb that profited massively from gambling on Greek bonds during the country's debt crisis.
- Energean claims to have a "clean" record in terms of oil spills - but it has only run one small field itself, which has not had recent environmental assessments. Its drilling partners include companies responsible for some of the world's most infamous oil disasters: for example, Halliburton, the Iraq War profiteer involved in Deepwater Horizon, the largest ever oil spill in North American waters.
- Energean has close ties to the Israeli government and Israeli corporations. It is looking to acquire the disputed Gaza Marine gas field off the shore of the Gaza Strip. Its biggest lender is the Israel's Bank HaPoalim, which finances illegal settlements. One of its main shareholders is IDB Development Group, a holding company that owns numerous businesses implicated in the occupied Palestinian territories.
- Energean has made a deal to sell all its current Greek oil production to one major partner: BP.
French and UK financial institutions financing companies profiting from the Israeli occupation of Palestinian Territories
Additional reading ...
Taking the EU out of the EastMed pipeline quagmire
Treading in a hot dispute with Turkey ...
The Battle For Control Of East Mediterranean Energy
