NICOSIA – Cyprus’ new government is not pushing for the stalled East Med pipeline to connect energy resources to mainland Greece via the island and Crete, now wanting to be a conduit for Liquefied Natural Gas instead.

The plan is to use a pipeline to carry natural gas from fields in the Eastern Mediterranean to the island for domestic use and an LNG facility to process for European markets, said President Nikos Christodoulides said.

“Through this facility, natural gas from the Eastern Mediterranean region can be liquefied in Cyprus and transported by LNG carriers to the European markets, thus creating an East Med corridor of gas supply to Europe,” Christodoulides told a workshop of industry stakeholders in Nicosia, said Reuters.

https://www.reuters.com/article/cyprus-energy-idAFL8N37Q14X

The seas in the region have yielded some of the largest natural gas discoveries in the past decade. Cyprus reported its first natural gas discovery in 2011, though it has yet to enter production, the report noted.

Plans for a 2,000 kilometer (1,243 mile) pipeline to take Eastern Mediterranean gas to Europe had been under discussion for about a decade but the so-called East Med idea was set back when the United States pulled back on its support.