Oil pipeline bursts near Israel-Jordan border.(the reason for the spill was under investigation)

An oil pipeline rupture has caused thousands of cubic metres of crude oil to spill into the Arava desert in southern Israel near the border with Jordan, officials said Thursday (Dec 4).The incident took place just north of the Red Sea resort city of Eilat and 500m from the frontier. 

The spill was "a couple of kilometres long", according to an Israeli environment ministry spokeswoman who was unable to give more specific information.

She said it was unclear whether there was any foul play and environmental authorities would open an investigation. "They have forces on the ground that prevented it from spreading to Jordan," she added.
The leak involved a 245km pipeline carrying crude oil from the southern port city of Ashkelon on Israel's Mediterranean coast to Eilat. 

Ronen Moshe, spokesman for the Eilat Ashkelon Pipeline Company (EAPC), said the spill happened at 12.45 am on Thursday in a new section of the pipeline.
"The leak has been stopped," he said, adding that the reason for the spill was under investigation. "There are dozens of people in the field taking care of the aftermath," he said, indicating there had been no impact on supply. According to the company's website, the EAPC was founded in 1968 and serves as a land bridge for transporting crude oil between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean.

- AFP/el

  http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/oil-pipeline-bursts-near/1510182.html

  4/12/14

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• Ein Leck in einer Öl-Pipeline hat im Süden Israels nach Angaben des Umweltschutzministeriums eine der bisher schlimmsten Umweltkatastrophen des Landes zur Folge. "Millionen Liter Rohöl sind ausgelaufen", sagte Ran Lior, Sprecher des Ministeriums, am Donnerstag.

Turkey nuke plant to last 100 years (Rosatom CEO)

Turkey’s first nuclear power plant to be built on the country’s southern coast will connect Turkey and Russia for at least 100 years, said the plant’s Russian builder, Rosatom.

“We are giving 60 years of guarantee for the Akkuyu nuclear plant, but I’m sure that it will have a lifespan of 80-100 years,” said Rosatom CEO Sergei Kirienko.

“We signed an agreement that undertakes mutual commitments for over 100 years,” he also added, speaking to the media in Moscow on Nov. 29.

Rosatom, Russia’s state-run atomic energy corporation, signed an agreement with Turkey in 2011 to build and operate a four-reactor nuclear power plant in the Mersin province on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast.

“Russia will provide $4 billion from its state budget for this project. We will not reduce the financial support of this project,” Kirienko said.

“Russian and Turkish investors will be preferred at first. The project is expected to draw 50-70 percent of investment. This will happen through investors mostly, not bank loans,” he added.

Training support

The Akkuyu plant, which is a sister project to Russia’s Novovoronezh plant in Voronezh Oblast, central Russia, will require $22 billion with construction beginning in 2016 and it becoming operational in 2020.


Kirienko said the use of Russian expertise and technology for Turkey’s first nuclear power plant is a sign of “trust” for Russia, adding that the plant is significant for the strategic cooperation between the two countries, while it will contribute to Turkey’s energy needs.

Recalling that Russia is giving nuclear energy training to 250 Turkish experts, Kirienko emphasized that Russia will help Turkey with the technical and infrastructural aspects. 
 [hurriyetdailynews.com]
30/11/14
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Related:

• La centrale nucléaire d'Akkuyu liera Russie et Turquie pour des décennies (Rosatom) ...

• Akkuyu nuclear power plant: No reasons for deteriorating relations with Russia (Turkish energy minister)

Related:

• Environment report for first nuclear plant in Akkuyu yells out: ‘Don’t build it’ (Coastal nuclear plants mostly in cold seas)

• After the meeting, Sergei Lavrov stated that Russia and Turkey noted successful progress of implementing the South Stream gas project and construction of the first Turkish nuclear power plant Akkuyu.

• Russia gives $1.39 bln for Turkey’s first nuclear plant. --The reactor’s construction is estimated to begin in 2016

• Σιγή ιχθύος από την Κομισιόν, για το πυρηνικό στο Ακουγιού

• Τα σχέδια του Άκουγιου: Του χρόνου ξεκινά η κατασκευή του πρώτου πυρηνικού σταθμού της Τουρκίας

• He also stated that no construction work for the power plant to be built in Akkuyu, southern Mersin province, had started. (2013)

Mediterranean, North Atlantic prepares for UN-backed tsunami warning system test -- (Simulations will be carried out between 28 and 30 October)

UN, 23 October 2014 – Some 20 nations with coastlines on the North Atlantic, and Mediterranean and Black Seas are set to participate in a United Nations-supervised tsunami warning exercise to improve their ability to respond to an alert and enhance regional coordination in the event of a disaster.

In a press statement released today, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) – the body coordinating the warning test since its first implementation in 2005 – reported that four tsunami simulations will be carried out between 28 and 30 October in an effort to assess the overall reactivity of countries participating in the Tsunami Early Warning and Mitigation System for the North-eastern Atlantic, the Mediterranean and connected seas (NEAMTWS).

Although tsunamis are not as frequent an occurrence in this area of the globe as they are in the Pacific Ocean, the shores of the Mediterranean and North Atlantic are densely populated prompting concern that tsunami shockwaves could strike and cause widespread damage and fatalities. In 1755, for instance, a tsunami caused by an earthquake in the Azores-Gibraltar Fault Zone destroyed Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. 

Another devastating tsunami swept over Messina, Italy in 1908, claiming tens of thousands of lives. And, more recently, in 2003, an earthquake in Algeria set off a tsunami that struck the shores of Spain's Balearic Islands and the southern coast of France. 

UNESCO noted that due to the short distances they travel in small bodies of water such as the Mediterranean, tsunami occurrences there strike shores with “great speed.”
According to the UN body, the upcoming exercise, named NEAMWave14, is based on a scenario in which four earthquakes unleash two tsunami events in the Mediterranean, one in the Atlantic Ocean, and one in the Black Sea. 

The Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute in Turkey, the National Tsunami Alert Centre in France, the National Observatory of Athens in Greece and the Portuguese Sea and Atmosphere Institute, will send out the alerts, kick-starting the exercise, which set to involve a wide range of countries, including Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Lebanon, Malta, Monaco, Morocco, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. 

“The exercise will be an opportunity to test the efficiency of the communication systems in charge of transmitting tsunami alerts and, in some countries, to ensure that the authorities in charge of public safety are prepared to face such a threat,” UNESCO explained in its press release. 

NEAMTWS is one of four regional systems which are coordinated by UNESCO's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) globally. Similar systems already exist for the Pacific and Indian oceans and for the Caribbean.
un.org
23/10/14
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Related:

• UN-organized tsunami exercise shows Indian Ocean region now ‘better prepared’

Ninety-six percent of Syria’s declared chemical weapons destroyed (UN-OPCW mission chief)

 UN, 4 September 2014 – The Special Coordinator for the Joint Mission of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and the United Nations (OPCW-UN) told the Security Council today that 96 percent of Syria’s declared stockpile, including the most dangerous chemicals, had been destroyed and preparation were underway to destroy the remaining 12 production facilities.

“This is a chemical weapons disarmament process, it’s been unique,” said Sigrid Kaag after her final briefing to the Security Council in her capacity as the head of the joint mission dealing with Syria’s chemical weapons, which is winding up its work at the end of September.

“At the same time, we reiterate our strong hope that if this is achieved, that conditions for peace and security and the political process will be centre stage for the benefit of the people of Syria and that of the region, particularly in these days of profound crisis.”

Ms. Kaag told a press conference at UN Headquarters following her closed-door briefing to the Council that the mission had overseen that destruction of 100 percent of “priority chemicals” and 96 percent of Syria’s chemical weapons stockpile, but the good offices of the UN Secretary-General on this issue, discussions on monitoring verification, and accurate reporting to the Council will be continued.

She said starting October 1, the OPCW will be in the lead – in partnership with the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNPOS) to begin destroying the 12 remaining chemical weapons facilities – seven so-called hangars and five tunnels.

“All in all, the joint mission has achieved its objectives, has assisted the authorities in Damascus to achieve their goals as a State party, but the residual activities that remain of course are also of importance and interest to the [Security] Council so they have been asked to be briefed on a regular basis as before for a foreseeable period,” Ms. Kaag said.

The Security Council President for September, United States Ambassador Samantha Power, told reporters after the meeting, the Council’s interest in the issue of ridding Syria of chemical weapons will not abate as “Council members noted that the elimination effort is not complete.”

Ms. Power also said some Security Council members raised their concerns about the Syrian Government’s use of chlorine gas, as reported by the UN Human Rights Council’s Commission of Inquiry last month.

In response to a question, the Security Council President said Security Council resolution 2118 (2013) has not yet been fulfilled, “and it won’t be fulfilled until this Council has confidence that the terms of the chemical weapons convention has been met.” In that resolution, the Council endorsed the expeditious destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons programme, with inspections to begin by 1 October, and agreed that in the event of non-compliance, it would impose “Chapter VII” measures.

The removal of the most critical material for destruction began in early January, in line with an agreement brokered by Russia and the United States, by which Syria renounced its chemical weapons material and joined 1992 Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons.
[un.org]
4/9/14
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Related:

• Syria's worst chemical arms neutralized: Pentagon

• Progress made on destruction of chemical weapons outside Syria (UNSC president)

• All toxic chemicals removed from Syria now at destruction sites (OPCW)

• US ship begins neutralizing Syrian chemical weapons 

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• Ευάγγελος Βενιζέλος: Απόλυτη προστασία του μεσογειακού θαλάσσιου περιβάλλοντος, σε σχέση με την επιχείρηση καταστροφής του οπλοστασίου χημικών όπλων της Συρίας.

• Απάντηση ΥΦΥΠΕΞ Κ. Γεροντόπουλου σε επίκαιρη ερώτηση του βουλευτή κ. Νότη Μαριά (ΑΝ.ΕΛ) για την καταστροφή των χημικών της Συρίας. -Ελληνικό ΥΠΕΞ

Syria's worst chemical arms neutralized: Pentagon

WASHINGTON: A specially equipped US ship has finished neutralizing all 600 metric tonnes of the most dangerous of Syria's chemical weapons components surrendered to the international community this year to avert threatened air strikes, the Pentagon said on Monday.

It said the Cape Ray, equipped with the US-developed Field Deployable Hydrolysis System, neutralized 581.5 metric tonnes of DF, a sarin precursor chemical, and 19.8 metric tonnes of HD, an ingredient of sulfur mustard, while afloat in the Mediterranean.

The vessel will travel to Finland and Germany in the next two weeks to unload the resulting effluent, which will undergo treatment as industrial waste to render it safer, a Pentagon spokeswoman said.

It was the first time chemical weapons components had been neutralized at sea, the Pentagon said.

Damascus agreed, last September, to a Russian proposal to give up its chemical weapons to avert threatened military strikes by the United States and France, which accused Syria of using the arms against opponents of President Bashar al-Assad.

A number of countries are involved in eliminating the chemical stockpiles. The United States was selected to dispose of the worst of the chemical weapons components because it had recently developed a mobile version of the hydrolysis system it uses for neutralizing chemical stockpiles.

The system uses substances and mixtures such as water, sodium hydroxide and sodium hypochlorite to neutralize bulk amounts of chemical warfare agents, according to the U.S. Army's Edgewood Chemical Biological Center.

Earlier this year, the hydrolysis system was placed aboard the Cape Ray, a 648-foot (198-meter) vessel that is part of the US Maritime Administration's ready reserve force of 46 ships.

The ship was held at Rota, Spain, for several months due to Syrian delays in handing over its declared stockpiles of chemical agents. The Cape Ray began neutralizing the chemicals after picking them up from Italy in late June. 
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Syrias-worst-chemical-arms-neutralized-Pentagon/articleshow/40386254.cms
19/8/14
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Related:

• Progress made on destruction of chemical weapons outside Syria (UNSC president)

• All toxic chemicals removed from Syria now at destruction sites (OPCW)

• US ship begins neutralizing Syrian chemical weapons 

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• Ευάγγελος Βενιζέλος: Απόλυτη προστασία του μεσογειακού θαλάσσιου περιβάλλοντος, σε σχέση με την επιχείρηση καταστροφής του οπλοστασίου χημικών όπλων της Συρίας.

• Απάντηση ΥΦΥΠΕΞ Κ. Γεροντόπουλου σε επίκαιρη ερώτηση του βουλευτή κ. Νότη Μαριά (ΑΝ.ΕΛ) για την καταστροφή των χημικών της Συρίας. -Ελληνικό ΥΠΕΞ

Akkuyu nuclear power plant: No reasons for deteriorating relations with Russia (Turkish energy minister)

Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Taner Yildiz said on Friday he did not see any reasons for deteriorating relations with Russia in the energy sector.

“As for the projects that we are currently implementing with Russia there are no reasons, which can cause problems due to the EU sanctions. Our relations are stable in gas issues and in other spheres,” Yildiz said.

Russia and Turkey are implementing a project to build the Akkuyu nuclear power plant at Mersin Province on the Mediterranean coast, he said.

Turkish specialists continue training in Russia to work at the nuclear power plant, Yildiz said, adding that his ministry and the Ministry of Environment were studying the environmental impact assessment report, given by Russia.
Further implementation of the project depends on this document, Yildiz said.
In May 2010 the Russian and Turkish government signed an agreement on cooperation to build and develop the Akkuyu nuclear power plant.
The Akkuyu nuclear power plant will be the first power plant. It is built by Russian companies. The project envisages creating four units with the capacity of 1200 MWt. The nuclear plant will generate about 35 billion kWt electricity per hour.

http://en.itar-tass.com/world/74523015/8/14
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Related:

• Environment report for first nuclear plant in Akkuyu yells out: ‘Don’t build it’ (Coastal nuclear plants mostly in cold seas)

• After the meeting, Sergei Lavrov stated that Russia and Turkey noted successful progress of implementing the South Stream gas project and construction of the first Turkish nuclear power plant Akkuyu.

• Russia gives $1.39 bln for Turkey’s first nuclear plant. --The reactor’s construction is estimated to begin in 2016

• Σιγή ιχθύος από την Κομισιόν, για το πυρηνικό στο Ακουγιού

• Τα σχέδια του Άκουγιου: Του χρόνου ξεκινά η κατασκευή του πρώτου πυρηνικού σταθμού της Τουρκίας

• He also stated that no construction work for the power plant to be built in Akkuyu, southern Mersin province, had started. (2013)

Progress made on destruction of chemical weapons outside Syria (UNSC president)

There has been "good progress" on the destruction of Syria's chemical weapon materials outside the country, UK's Permanent Representative to the UN Mark Lyall Grant, who holds the rotating presidency of the Security Council for August, told reporters here on Tuesday.

Lyall Grant made the remarks after a briefing to the 15-member Council behind closed doors via video teleconference by Sigrid Kaag, special coordinator for the United Nations - Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Joint Mission.

Kaag reported to the Council on the work that has been taking place to destroy Syria's chemical weapons, which have now been completely taken out of that country.

"The United States briefed that they had completed about 60 percent now of treatment of Priority A chemicals on the ship, the Cape Ray and once that treatment is completed, then the effluent will be sent to Germany and Finland for final disposal," said Lyall Grant.

The UK would complete its destruction of the B precursors and hydrochloric acids in the course of this week. So, good progress on the destruction of chemicals outside Syria, he added.

The Security Council was also told about a meeting in Beirut on Tuesday to work out the modalities for the destruction of the 12 remaining declared production facilities that would take about six months to complete, according to the president.

Lyall Grant added that there would be a further visit by the OPCW team in September to the Syrian capital, Damascus.

On the future of the Joint Mission, he said, there was a "very clear majority view" that Syria remained a special case and the outstanding issues were such that the mission should continue for the time being.

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The UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution in September last year to rid the war-torn Middle East country of its chemical weapons. Under the resolution, the OPCW was mandated to oversee the elimination of Syria's chemical weapons materials.

The removal of the most critical material for destruction began in early January. As per the decisions taken by the Security Council and the OPCW Executive Council, the full arsenal of Syria's chemical weapons should be destroyed by June 30, 2014.

On June 23, the Joint Mission announced that Syria has removed all of its declared chemical arsenal from its territory.
Sources: Xinhua -globaltimes.cn
6/8/14
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Related:

• All toxic chemicals removed from Syria now at destruction sites (OPCW)

• US ship begins neutralizing Syrian chemical weapons 

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• Ευάγγελος Βενιζέλος: Απόλυτη προστασία του μεσογειακού θαλάσσιου περιβάλλοντος, σε σχέση με την επιχείρηση καταστροφής του οπλοστασίου χημικών όπλων της Συρίας.

• Απάντηση ΥΦΥΠΕΞ Κ. Γεροντόπουλου σε επίκαιρη ερώτηση του βουλευτή κ. Νότη Μαριά (ΑΝ.ΕΛ) για την καταστροφή των χημικών της Συρίας. -Ελληνικό ΥΠΕΞ

All toxic chemicals removed from Syria now at destruction sites (OPCW)

All the toxic chemicals removed from Syria under a deal with the Syrian government to destroy its chemical weapons stockpile have been delivered to destruction facilities outside the country, the global chemical weapons watchdog said on Thursday.
  
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said in a statement that the 1,300 tonnes of chemicals removed from Syria were now being destroyed at various locations. The watchdog said 32 percent of the total had been destroyed by July 21.
  
The OPCW also announced that the 12 former chemical weapons production facilities in Syria would be placed beyond use. Seven hangars would be razed to the ground, it said, while five underground structures would be sealed off permanently.
  
The Hague-based organisation was given the task of overseeing the destruction of Syria's chemical weapons stocks after a sarin gas attack on the outskirts of Damascus last year which killed hundreds of people.
  
Six hundred tonnes of the most deadly chemicals are being destroyed using equipment installed on a U.S. vessel, the MV Cape Ray. The remainder are being destroyed at commercial land-based facilities in Finland, Britain and the United States.
  
The presence of such large quantities of toxic chemicals has caused public alarm and was met with stiff opposition from local politicians and residents in some of the countries participating in the destruction process.
  
In January, the Italian government was forced to reassure residents near the port of GioiaTauro, where the chemicals were transloaded, that they were in no danger.  
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/all-toxic-chemicals-removed-from-syria-now-at-destruction-sites-opcw.aspx?pageID=238&nID=69564&NewsCatID=359
24/7/14
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Related:

• US ship begins neutralizing Syrian chemical weapons

• Ευάγγελος Βενιζέλος: Απόλυτη προστασία του μεσογειακού θαλάσσιου περιβάλλοντος, σε σχέση με την επιχείρηση καταστροφής του οπλοστασίου χημικών όπλων της Συρίας.

• Απάντηση ΥΦΥΠΕΞ Κ. Γεροντόπουλου σε επίκαιρη ερώτηση του βουλευτή κ. Νότη Μαριά (ΑΝ.ΕΛ) για την καταστροφή των χημικών της Συρίας. -Ελληνικό ΥΠΕΞ

• ΥΠΕΞ: Ανακοίνωση Υπουργείου Εξωτερικών για την καταστροφή των χημικών όπλων της Συρίας

  

  MV Cape Ray

   

Environment report for first nuclear plant in Akkuyu yells out: ‘Don’t build it’ (Coastal nuclear plants mostly in cold seas)

Data collected in the controversial environmental impact assessment report (ÇED) regarding Turkey’s prospective first nuclear plant in Akkuyu in Mersin has provided serious warnings that the plant could hurt the region’s ecosystem once it comes operational.

A leading expert on marine sciences who spoke to Doğan News Agency said the data was not interpreted in the light of its potential ecological damage.


“When you look at the data, the report yells, ‘This shouldn’t be built here,’” said Ali Cemal Gücü, a professor at the Marine Sciences Institute at Middle Eastern Technical University (ODTÜ) in Ankara.
 
Gücü said it was impossible to suggest there would be no environmental impact after the release of a million cubic meters of 35-degree water into the sea each hour for the next 60 years.

• According to the 3,600-page report, which had to be revised after being returned three times over the past two years, the water needed to cool the four-reactor plant will be supplied from Mediterranean Sea and will be poured back into the sea at 35 degrees. Although the report admits the discharge will cause a rise in the water temperature, it argues that this would not exceed 0.5 degrees and poses no danger to any species living in the habitat, including loggerhead turtles and monk seals.

But government officials and investors in the planned 4,800 megawatt (MW) plant built by Russia’s Rosatom quickly dismissed the environmental concerns with construction already falling behind schedule.

Coastal nuclear plants mostly in cold seas

According to Gücü, the assurances regarding sea life in the zone are not credible when confronted with the data provided by the report.

Gücü said similar nuclear plants designed to discharge hot water into the sea were usually build in areas such as the Baltic states, Russia or Finland.

“So the same interpretations that could be made for a sea at 17 degrees are made for the northeastern Mediterranean, whose waters are at 31 degrees and can almost be considered tropical,” Gücü said.

The professor said the bays between Mersin and İskenderun in the eastern Mediterranean had been invaded by species that poured into the Mediterranean from the Red Sea following the opening of the Suez Canal, resulting in the deaths of local species. The increase in the temperatures in the bay would only accelerate the process, Gücü said, threatening the whole fish population.

Gücü also claimed that monk seals will have to abandon the area as soon as the construction starts.
“[At a time] when monkey seals are disappearing in the whole Mediterranean, they are building a nuclear plant, instead of protecting this area. They chose that area for its untouched nature, but won’t care at all if they lose all those species,” he said.

Officials have solemnly vowed that those who will work at Akkuyu NGS, the company established by Rosatom to operate the plant, will be trained to increase awareness about the protection of marine fauna.

The start of construction for the plant is scheduled for mid-2015, as pressure by the government has already increased as the project still has to obtain a construction license. By 2023, all four planned reactors are slated to have started generating power. 
[hurriyetdailynews.com]
18/7/14
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Related:

• Russia gives $1.39 bln for Turkey’s first nuclear plant. --The reactor’s construction is estimated to begin in 2016

• Σιγή ιχθύος από την Κομισιόν, για το πυρηνικό στο Ακουγιού

• Τα σχέδια του Άκουγιου: Του χρόνου ξεκινά η κατασκευή του πρώτου πυρηνικού σταθμού της Τουρκίας

• He also stated that no construction work for the power plant to be built in Akkuyu, southern Mersin province, had started. (2013)

Security of gas supply: the role of gas developments in the Mediterranean region

European Commission, Joint Statement, Malta, 11 July 2014.

Joint statement by Günther H. Oettinger, Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for energy, and Konrad Mizzi, Minister for Energy and Health of the Government of Malta:

Today, Energy Ministers from the EU, North Africa and the East Mediterranean, high officials, industry representatives and key stakeholders in the energy sector met in Malta to exchange views on how gas-related developments in the Mediterranean region can enhance security of supply in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.

This discussion takes place at a critical time when the wider geopolitical events could have implications on energy security. In reaction to this, and in line with the European Council conclusions of March 2014, the European Union is putting further impetus on its supply diversification objectives. North African and Eastern Mediterranean countries are also looking to develop their economies and meet increasing domestic energy demand. 

The Participants agreed that secure, sustainable and affordable energy is a priority for all, and is a key factor for underpinning stability and prosperity in the region. They underlined the importance of regional cooperation to strengthen security of supply but also to favour regional trade at the interest of both gas producers and consumers in the EU, North Africa and the Middle East. 

The Participants underlined their general willingness to further strengthen regional energy cooperation and to support the progressive development of joint actions such as infrastructure plans, in order to support solutions that provide best alternatives with the objective of reinforcing the energy market in the Mediterranean region. This will provide real trade opportunities for producing North African and East-Mediterranean countries and consuming countries in the wider Mediterranean region and the EU.

In doing so the importance of a stable and predictable political, legal and regulatory framework was stressed, as was the importance of promoting an attractive investment environment for local and third party investors.

In order to progress on these issues, the Ministers agreed in principle to establish a 'Euro-Mediterranean Platform on Gas’ that would bring together policy makers, industrial representatives, regulators and energy stakeholders. This Platform will assist in the development of Euro-Mediterranean relations on gas issues. Its aim will be in particular to ensure greater convergence between the policies of the various countries, address upstream production challenges, promote third party upstream investments, improve the conditions for imports of oil and gas from producing countries, develop the necessary infrastructure of common interest, promote technology cooperation, examine gas pricing mechanisms, facilitate market access, cooperate on the domain of safety and security and work together on the promotion of regional energy security.

The Euro-Med gas platform would contribute to the ongoing efforts aimed at enhancing Europe's energy security and at meeting specific 2030 interconnection objectives. 

The scope of work and the operating rules of the 'Euro-Mediterranean Platform on Gas’, could be developed with the support of the "Observatoire Méditerranéen de l'Énergie" (OME).

The further elaboration on the modus operandi of the platform will be discussed in the coming months with a view to establishing a fully-fledged proposal to be endorsed at the High Level Conference on "Euro-Mediterranean Energy Partnership" which will take place in Rome on 19 November 2014.

Participants discussed the possibility of this platform playing a key role in the creation of a Mediterranean Gas Hub in line with the European Energy Security Strategy (EESS).

For further information

"Security of gas supply – The role of gas developments in the Mediterranean region" conference, Malta (10-11 July 2014)..............http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_STATEMENT-14-222_en.htm?locale=en

11/7/14

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• Ο Υπουργός ΠΕΚΑ, Γιάννης Μανιάτης, σε Υπουργική Διάσκεψη στη Μάλτα με θέμα την ασφάλεια εφοδιασμού φυσικού αερίου και τον ρόλο της Μεσογείου

US ship begins neutralizing Syrian chemical weapons

US container ship Cape Ray began neutralizing chemical materials on Monday that were once part of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's weapons arsenal, the Pentagon said.
The ship, in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea, began processing about 600 metric tonnes of chemical weapons and raw materials that could be used in them, Pentagon spokesman Colonel Steve Warren told reporters.

The US government has said the materials include mustard gas and components for the nerve agent sarin.
[jpost.com]
7/7/14
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Related:

• Ευάγγελος Βενιζέλος: Απόλυτη προστασία του μεσογειακού θαλάσσιου περιβάλλοντος, σε σχέση με την επιχείρηση καταστροφής του οπλοστασίου χημικών όπλων της Συρίας.

• Απάντηση ΥΦΥΠΕΞ Κ. Γεροντόπουλου σε επίκαιρη ερώτηση του βουλευτή κ. Νότη Μαριά (ΑΝ.ΕΛ) για την καταστροφή των χημικών της Συρίας. -Ελληνικό ΥΠΕΞ

• ΥΠΕΞ: Ανακοίνωση Υπουργείου Εξωτερικών για την καταστροφή των χημικών όπλων της Συρίας

• Απάντηση ΥΦΥΠΕΞ Δ. Κούρκουλα σε Επίκαιρη Ερώτηση για Καταστροφή Χημικού Οπλοστασίου Συρίας. -Ελληνικό ΥΠΕΞ

 

Greece unhappy over Syrian chemical weapons destruction

MV Cape Ray

Greece has expressed concerns regarding the destruction of Syrian chemical weapons in the Mediterranean Sea the country’s Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos said Tuesday
Venizelos stated that Greece and its heavily populated island, Crete, have reservations and would “prefer those chemical gases to be destroyed out in the Atlantic Ocean.”

He added that if the destruction is to take place in the Mediterranean Sea, there should be guarantees regarding the effects on the environment and tourism and that the EU should monitor the process.

Last month thousands of Cretans protested against the destruction of Syrian chemicals off the coast of their island.

However, the U.S. ship MV Cape Ray is preparing to destroy more toxic substances from Syria after receiving the material at an Italian port. The ship while in the Mediterranean will destroy the dangerous substances via a process of hydrolysis, which will alter the chemicals so as to make them no longer dangerous. 
[aa.com.tr]
15/4/14
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Related:

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Turkey ‘earns $12 billion’ from Baku pipeline

The Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) has earned $12 billion from the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) crude oil pipeline since 2005, when oil from Baku was first pumped, Turkish Minister of Energy Taner Yıldız has said.

During his speech in the southern province of Adana, Yıldız underlined the importance of the BTC pipeline for the region and trade volume created for the country.

He stated the TPAO has 6.5 percent of the shares in the BTC crude oil pipeline. British Petroleum (BP) and State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) hold the majority of the shares in the BTC pipeline, with 30 percent and 20 percent respectively.

The pipeline has transported more than 1.8 billion barrels of crude oil to date.

Nearly 3 percent of the world’s oil trade is flowing along the BTC and Kirkuk-Yumurtalık crude oil pipelines through Turkey. The BTC pipeline has been transporting Azeri oil from the Caspian Sea to the Ceyhan Port of Turkey through the Georgian capital of Tbilisi. The oil is then exported to European markets via the Mediterranean Sea. (hurriyetdailynews.com)
24/3/14

THEY SAY OLD HABITS DIE HARD…

From fish egg to adult fish, all species follow important stages of development. And we definitely need to respect this life cycle. Even more now that the state of the stocks is alarming in the Mediterranean.
The maths are simple: for one juvenile left in the sea today we will have a new generation tomorrow. For example, a juvenile codfish reaches 10 cm, weights 5.4 grams and has no chance to reproduce. A mature codfish of 80 cm weights in average 3.6 kilos and produces 657 eggs. And if we let these new 657 juveniles grow up to maturity, we could fish in the end up to 2400 kilos of codfish. In other words, fishing juveniles is completely illogical.

Cultural change needs to happen in the Mediterranean. Indeed, the regional gastronomy still frequently features juvenile fish despite its catastrophic consequences. We have set minimum fishing size for several species and minimum mesh sizes for nets within the Mediterranean Regulation. We have put sustainability at the core of our renewed Common Fisheries Policy. But this is not enough. We need deep changes in our mind-sets.
I do think that a complementary solution lies with each and every one of us. We all need to act by our own means to stop eating juveniles. Fishermen need to commit to respect minimum size, fishmongers and retailers to stop selling undersized fish, consumers to pay attention to labelling and to the fish they choose.
They say old habits die hard. But I am convinced that well informed consumers and conscious professionals can put an end to harmful juvenile consumption.
Maria Damanaki's blog 
19/3/14
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US Navy SEALs take control of oil tanker hijacked in Libya: Pentagon

U.S. Navy SEALs boarded and took control of an oil tanker that had was seized earlier this month at a Libyan port by three armed men, the U.S. Department of Defense said.

No one was hurt in the boarding operation conducted late on March 16, approved by U.S. President Barack Obama, requested by the Libyan and Cypriot governments and conducted in international waters southeast of Cyprus, said Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby.

"The Morning Glory is carrying a cargo of oil owned by the Libyan government National Oil Company. The ship and its cargo were illicitly obtained from the Libyan port of As-Sidra," his statement said. 

The ship, which departed from the eastern Libyan port of Al-Sidra - controlled by rebels seeking autonomy from the authorities in Tripoli - is reported to have loaded at least 234,000 barrels of crude.

Pyongyang last week however denied any responsibility for the tanker. The ship was operated by an Egypt-based company that was allowed to temporarily use the North Korean flag under a contract with Pyongyang, North Korean state news agency KCNA said March 12.

Pyongyang had "cancelled and deleted" the ship's North Korean registry, as it violated its law "on the registry of ships and the contract that prohibited it from transporting contraband cargo."
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/us-navy-seals-take-control-of-oil-tanker-hijacked-in-libya-pentagon.aspx?pageID=238&nID=63677&NewsCatID=357
17/3/14
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Possible navy attack on North Korea-flagged tanker a "declaration of war". - Libyan rebels

An armed movement which has seized oil ports in eastern Libya said on Sunday any attempt by government forces to attack a North Korea-flagged tanker loading crude at a terminal under its control would be "like a declaration of war".

Abb-Rabbo al-Barassi, self-declared prime minister of the movement, warned Libya's navy not to "harm" the tanker docked at Es Sider, according to a statement.


"Such a move would be a declaration of war," said the statement, sent to Reuters by a spokesman.

Reuters
http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_03_09/Possible-navy-attack-on-North-Korea-flagged-tanker-a-declaration-of-war-Libyan-rebels-4940/
9/3/14
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