(Bloomberg) -- A pipeline project to transport natural gas from the eastern Mediterranean to Europe will take too long to build and be too costly to be viable, according to U.S. Under Secretary for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland.
The planned 1,900-kilometer (1,181-mile) EastMed pipeline will be one of the longest and deepest in the world and will provide an export route from gas fields in the eastern Mediterranean to European markets via Greece and Italy.
While there's a need to find alternative supplies to reduce dependence on Russian gas, the EastMed project is “not economically viable” because it's very long, in very deep water and will take some 10 years to build, Nuland said Thursday in Nicosia.
“In 10 years from now, we want to be far more green and far more diverse, so what we are looking for in a hydrocarbon context are options that can get us more gas and more oil for this short transition period,” Nuland said after meeting with Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades.
The U.S. is focused on projects that can deliver now for Europe and for all of the countries in the eastern Mediterranean given the need for alternative supplies of energy everywhere, Nuland said.
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