Gas supply diversification process of Serbia in the long run

The construction of the Eastern Mediterranean gas pipeline would enable Serbia to diversify gas suppliers for its consumers, but due to reduced demand for “blue energy” due to the corona virus epidemic and high construction costs, it is realistic to expect the project to be completed in a decade or two.
The Minister of Mining and Energy of Serbia, Zorana Mihajlovic, stated that the construction of the gas connection between Nis and Dimitrovgrad is important for our country, because that is a precondition for the Eastern Mediterranean gas pipeline to reach our region from Israel.
She added that Serbia wants to be additionally supplied with gas through a liquefied natural gas terminal.
The expert public believes that the supply of gas from the eastern Mediterranean would be very useful for Serbia, but it is still unknown what quantities can be counted on from its deposits and what the capacity of that gas pipeline would be.
In other words, the question is whether there would be enough gas, which is transported by it, for consumers in Serbia.
– Technically, Serbia could be supplied with gas from the Eastern Mediterranean gas pipeline. It is a project that has been talked about in the last 15 or more years, but it has not started yet. It is a gas pipeline that would supply consumers with gas from deposits in the eastern Mediterranean, in waters that belong to Israel, Cyprus, and Turkey also claims the rights to them. It would certainly be good for Serbia to have gas from that direction as well. What is a problem at the moment is that apart from Russian gas, there is no other that could supply consumers in Europe. The possibility of exploiting gas from the eastern Mediterranean at this time is in the testing phase. Due to the coronavirus, the demand for gas is lower than it was before the pandemic, so that is also a factor that affects the construction plans. That gas pipeline will not become operational so quickly and it may take a decade or two before it is built – Goran Radosavljevic, an energy expert, explains for Danas.
Our interlocutor points out that Serbia, when it comes to the supply of liquefied natural gas, could count on the one from the terminal that should be built in Greece.
– Certain quantities of gas could reach consumers in our country from that terminal. Of course, they would not be so large that they could replace the quantities from the gas pipeline that deliver gas to Serbia, but they would certainly be important as an additional source – says Radosavljevic.
Vojislav Vuletic, Secretary General of the Gas Association of Serbia, believes that it would be very good for Serbia to be able to count on gas from the Eastern Mediterranean gas pipeline.
– In that way, consumers in our country would have cheaper gas. Namely, in that situation, Serbia would have the opportunity to choose and buy gas that would have a lower price because it would be offered by more bidders. In practice, however, the big question is how it would work. It is still not clear how much gas would be available and what the capacity of the Eastern Mediterranean gas pipeline would be.
And those are important questions that affect whether there would be enough gas for the needs of consumers in Serbia – says Vuletic.
He adds that the quantities of liquefied natural gas that are delivered through the terminal on Krk are too small and are not planned for our market.
The construction of the Eastern Mediterranean gas pipeline is supported by the United States, and the European Union has declared it a project of general interest for the creation of a single gas market on the “Old Continent”.
A framework agreement between Israel, Greece and Cyprus on the construction of that gas pipeline has also been agreed.
The final decision on that investment should be made by the beginning of next year.
The project is worth six billion euros, and it is estimated that gas from the eastern Mediterranean could satisfy between 10 to 15 percent of the needs of gas consumers in the European Union, Danas reports.