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East-Med undersea pipeline project now ratified by Israel

Advancing the East-Med project one step further, Israel’s government ratified the agreement signed last January with the governments of Cyprus and Greece.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (C) speaks during a press conference with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) and Cypriot President Nikos Anastasiadis (L) in Athens on January 2, 2020 following  the signing ceremony of an agreement for the EastMed pipeline project designed to ship gas from the eastern Mediterranean to Europe in Athens on January 2, 2020. (Photo by ARIS MESSINIS / AFP) (Photo by ARIS MESSINIS/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel’s government ratified July 19 the East-Med pipeline agreement, which was signed last January with the governments of Cyprus and Greece. The three countries have agreed to advance a project of a pipeline that would transport natural gas from the eastern Mediterranean to Europe.

According to the project’s outline, the 1,900-kilometer (1,180-mile) undersea pipeline would be able to transfer up to 12 billion cubic meters a year from offshore gas reserves between Israel and Cyprus to Greece, and then onto other countries in southeast Europe. Italy is expected to be the first entry point to the continent. The project aims at providing around 10% of the European Union’s natural gas needs, thus diminishing the continent’s energetic dependence on Russia.

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