> Read: Barroso warns Bulgaria on South StreamĬroatia plans next year to gauge gas companies’ interest in leasing capacity and then invite potential investors. The terminal is already on an EU list of 30 projects it considers important for energy security, although it has been quiet on funding. US Vice President Joe Biden, on a trip to Istanbul last month, commented on Croatia’s potential to become an energy hub, “if it makes smart investments now, with EU support, and works collaboratively with its neighbours”.Ĭroatian Economy Minister Ivan Vrdoljak said on Sunday the government would declare the Krk terminal a “strategic project” this month or next. >Read: Russia confirms decision to abandon South StreamĬroatia is poised to launch a fresh feasibility study on a terminal with a projected annual capacity of 4 to 6 billion cubic metres (bcm) and hopes to win political and financial backing of EU states and Washington. “Everybody considers this the miracle weapon,” said Attila Holoda, managing director of energy consultancy Aurora Energy Kft. The idea had foundered primarily because Europe’s demand for gas fell in the global financial crisis, making the project no longer economically viable for investors, including some major European energy companies.īut the Ukraine crisis and the collapse of South Stream have refocused minds in central and eastern European nations on their need to reduce dependence on Russian gas and their vulnerability to disruptions of supply that come via pipelines across Ukraine. Spurred by the demise of Russia’s South Stream gas pipeline project, Croatia has revived a decade-old idea of building a liquefied natural gas import terminal at the deepwater oil port of Omisalj, on the island of Krk.
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