Talks to expand Arab gas line to Turkey to supply European countries

Egypt's Minister of Petroleum Sameh Fahmi said that talks are currently running to expand the Arab gas line to Turkey to become one of the gas veins that supply the European countries. There are projects of gas lines that aim at linking gas between Turkey, Greece and Italy in the frame of future integration and amalgamation between the regional markets of the Balkan and the Mediterranean regions.

Moreover, these gas lines are strategic ones since they link north Africa with the Mediterranean countries and Europe.

The Mediterranean-Euro Conference of Petroleum and Energy Ministers held in Rome would discuss many topics as the bad need for providing the apt situations to lay down a Mediterranean-Euro policy in the petroleum and energy sector to reach a clear co-policy in the light of the problems of electricity blackout in some European countries as happened in Italy last summer.

The Conference also discussed the commitment of Barcelona Agreement to establish a Mediterranean-Euro free zone by 2010. This is in addition to the importance of providing gas supplies to stress transparency and safeguarding environment according to the principles of development.

Meanwhile, there is a bad need to lay down regional initiatives and policies to develop infrastructure and to facilitate link networks between the European countries, the Middle East and north Africa.