Exclusive: Interview with Greek Energy Minister Panos Skourletis The energy sector indeed constitutes the backbone of Greece’s economic development and evidently at the moment it is facing some structural challenges, both internal and external in nature. These challenges are driven by the volatility of global energy prices, as well as the political and regulatory instability in the country. The combination of these two sets of factors is a major obstacle for attracting the necessary investments in the industry. At the same time, energy markets’...

Η Ευρωπαϊκή Ενεργειακή Ένωση ως καταλύτης ανάπτυξης Το όραμα της Ενεργειακής Ένωσης ενδεχομένως να μην χαίρει ακόμη της αναγνωρισιμότητας που του αρμόζει εντός ελληνικών συνόρων όμως αναμφισβήτητα αποτελεί μία στρατηγική προτεραιότητα που προωθεί η Ε.Ε εδώ και σχεδόν δύο χρόνια. Από την αρχή της θητείας της η «Διοίκηση Γιούνκερ» έχει θεσπίσει τη θέση του Αντιπροέδρου της Ευρωπαϊκής Επιτροπής αρμόδιου για την Ενεργειακή Ένωση, προκειμένου να καταδείξει με τον πλέον επίσημο τρόπο την κεφαλαιώδη σημασία που αντιστοιχεί στο εν λόγω εγχείρημα. Στη...

Energy Union: Turning the vision into reality in South East Europe South East Europe (SEE) has long been identified as one of the European Union (EU) region’s most vulnerable to energy supply disruptions. Developing a regional market and by extension a regional hub for SEE represents one of the biggest challenges for the EU’s energy policy. Besides the lack of interconnectivity and the heavy dependence on Russian gas, the region is fraught with political complexities and regulatory uncertainty that pose obstacles to energy market liberalisation and put a...

Production Freeze: Reality Check The continued fall in oil prices have weighed heavily on the revenues of major oil producing countries such as Saudi Arabia and Russia, impacting their economic and social liabilities. The deal between Saudi Arabia, Russia, Venezuela and Qatar to freeze oil output to January levels is the most promising attempt to address the supply-demand imbalance on a global scale. This report outlines the likely impact of such a deal and the possible ramifications to the crude market.

Greece Reality Check - Q1 2016 We are happy to share with you the Q1 2016 version of our market intelligence service titled "GEF Reality Check".

Eastern Mediterranean gas: The Energy Union’s next frontier Discoveries of natural gas onshore Israel and Cyprus between 2009 and 2011 unveiled the Eastern Mediterranean (1) as a new frontier for the development of gas resources. Indeed, the US Geological Survey (USGS) released a study in 2010 suggesting that the Levant Basin contains an estimated 122 trillion cubic feet (2) of undiscovered, technically recoverable natural gas. Almost six years on, the prophesised East Med gas bonanza has yet to bear fruit. There is a myriad of reasons why, including:...

Energy Security Package: Natural Gas Markets in Focus Last week the European Commission’s proposal of the Energy Security Package was presented at the European Council in the framework of the co-decision procedure involving the EC and the European Parliament.

OPEC Oil Flows - February 2016 OPEC’s February exports stood at 24 million bpd according to our analysis of vessel flows, in line with January’s total. Several Gulf producers saw falling output and exports as technical issues and field maintenance impacted production, although Latin American and West African members offset the decline in exports. With some members committed to the production freeze agreement, overall OPEC output is reported to have reduced during the month despite Iran continuing to increase its production...

Is Greece now open for business? Greece has featured heavily in economic headlines in recent times, sadly for all the wrong reasons - a deep recession (GDP down 25% over the last six years), heavy unemployment (28%, while youth unemployment is almost 50%) and unsustainable public sector debt (180% of GDP). Moreover, there was even talk about a possible exit from the Eurozone and even the EU.