Energy

In yet another blatant violation of Cyprus' sovereignty, Turkey on Thursday sent its Yavuz drillship to an area off the west coast of the island and within its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) to prospect for hydrocarbons.

The area, which is in Block 7 of the island's EEZ, has already been licensed for exploration to the French-Italian consortium of Total and Eni.

Ankara will not accept "a usurpation" of the rights of Turkey and Turkish Cypriots "with a fait accompli" in the Eastern Mediterranean, the country's Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said Thursday.

Ahead of Friday's crucial meeting between Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish-Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci, Turkey's Energy Minister Fatih Donmez has announced that a second exploration vessel will be dispatched to the Eastern Mediterranean by the end of August.

The Eastern Mediterranean is "an issue" for 82 million Turks, Turkey's Energy Minister Fatih Donmez has said, declaring that the country will not back down in its demands.

The second line of the export gas pipeline TurkStream will pass through the territory of Bulgaria, not Greece, Russia's Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on the sidelines of a meeting of the Russian-Turkish intergovernmental commission, TASS reported.

Russian companies have expressed an interest in modernizing energy sites in Bulgaria. This was announced by Minister of Energy Temenujka Petkova, who participated in Moscow at the fourth meeting of the Working Group "Energy", part of the Intergovernmental Bulgarian-Russian Commission for Economic and Scientific and Technological Cooperation.

Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia will deepen cooperation under projects which guarantee security of gas supplies to Southeastern Europe, according to the words of the Bulgaria's Minister of Energy Temenuzhka Petkova, her Greek counterpart Giorgos Stathkakis and Serbia's Energy Minister Aleksandar Antic said during the tripartite meeting with the 1st Oil and Gas Forum held in Alexandroupoli.

European Commission Vice-President for Energy Union Maros Šefčovič and Russia's Energy Minister Alexander Novak plan to meet in the autumn to discuss EU-Russia energy relations, including security of supply, a European Commission spokeswoman told New Europe.

Saudi Arabia and Iraq are to launch a joint trade commission, the Saudi cabinet announced on Aug. 14, in a sign of a thaw in ties between the two neighbors.

Bulgaria on Monday demanded electricity supplies from Romania but the request was refused, local media quote Romanian officials as saying.

Problems in the electricity distrubution system, linked to harsh weather conditions and increased power consumption, triggered authorities to sent the request, according to the Bulgarian National Television.