Greece Extends Bidding for Offshore Gas Storage
Greece has pushed back the deadline for non-binding bids for a contract to operate a planned underground gas storage capacity in the northern Aegean Sea from September 30 to October 19, its privatisation agency Taiped said on September 28. The agency did not give a reason for the delay.
The South Kavala gas field is operated by Mediterranean-focused producer Energean but it nearing depletion, with less than 74mn m3 of gas left according to the company. Preliminary plans suggest it could be used to store up to 1bn m3 of gas, with a maximum injection rate of 5mn m3/day and a maximum extraction rate is 4mn m3/d. The plan is to connect the field with the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline carrying Azeri gas to Europe via a 2-km pipeline from Energean's onshore processing plant.
Taiped has invited companies to submit expressions of interest to convert South Kavala into a storage facility and operate it for 50 years. The scheme is listed as an EU project of common interest, which should enable it to tap EU funds and secure regulatory support.