Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb. 26 / Trend /
Greece seeks to reduce dependence on Russian gas by becoming regional transit center for the Caspian gas, the Energy Information Administration report said.
Imports from Russia account for 75 percent of Greece's needs with Algerian LNG providing most of the remainder.
Annual demand growth is expected to average 2.8 percent between 2010 and 2030 according to EIA estimates.
Greece is being positioned as a potential regional gas hub and a transit route for the delivery of Central Asian and Russian gas supplies to Europe.
A-186-mile interconnector passing under the Sea of Marmara linking the Greek and Turkish gas grids came onstream in 2007.
"A further extension via the 372-mile Turkey-Greece-Italy interconnectors across northern Greece and the 136-mile Trans-Adriatic pipeline under the Adriatic Sea to Italy is to be built by 2011 paving the way for supplies from Azerbaijan's giant Shah Deniz gas field in the Caspian Sea to be delivered via Greece to Europe," the report said.
Following the completion of the Turkey-Greece interconnector, Greece began receiving gas from Azerbaijan, although these supplies were halted at the beginning of 2008 following disruptions caused by a dispute between Turkmenistan and Iran. Greece plans to buy 1 billions cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas per year.
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