Key elements of Greece’s overall policy on natural gas security is promoting the diversification of supply sources, which is why the country is embarking on a series of projects aimed at improving Greece’s interconnectivity between countries. But the fear is that projects could be adversely affected by a drop in confidence from private investors.
State company DEPA, which sells gas to large consumers and to gas supply companies, would still have to honour its long-term gas agreements with Russian producer Gazprom and Algerian producer and LNG exporter Sonotrach – even if the country made the choice to exit.
DEPA has three long-term contracts for natural gas supply, which total around 4billion cubic metres (bcm)/year. The deals include a 2.8bcm/year deal with Gazprom’s export arm Gazexport which runs until 2016, a 0.5bcm/year deal with Sonatrach until 2019, and a 0.7bcm/year deal until 2021 with Turkish gas incumbent Botas.