Cyprus could start exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Europe by 2022, the head of the country’s National Hydrocarbons Company said in an interview with ITAR-TASS on Tuesday.
“It is important for us to start monetizing our resources in rather tight deadlines,” Tula Onoufriou, who heads the Cyprus National Hydrocarbons Company, said. “Taking into consideration the current situation, we assess our capacities to start LNG exports in 2022,” she said.
“As Cyprus is an EU country and has its own resources of natural gas, the republic can make a contribution into ensuring energy security, becoming an energy hub in the region with the infrastructure necessary for supplies to Europe,” she added.
The idea that Cyprus could offer Europe an alternative source of gas supplies reducing the region’s dependence on Russia, which meets about 30% of the region’s gas needs, is supported by Washington and Brussels amid the deteriorating crisis in Ukraine.
To meet this strategic goal, Cyprus has to construct the LNG plant that demands the financing in the range of half of Cyprus' annual gross domestic product (GDP), estimated at 17 billion euros ($21.8 billion).
