Pyatt thinks importing expensive American LNG (3x pricier) will “help” Europe!!! A Europe, whose economy is already destroyed after the US blew the Nordstream pipeline…
By Nick Stamatakis
Please spend a few minutes watching the interview below with Geoffrey Pyatt and Naftemporiki. It will show you why American Foreign Policy is failing worldwide. First (foundational) problem: How can you promote the appropriate energy policy in the US and Europe when your primary motivation is to extinguish Russia from the map? The same STUPID attitude led the US to destroy the Nord Stream pipelines, which have, in turn, destroyed Germany – the known “locomotive” of the European economy. Second (related) problem: How can an – already damaged – European economy become more competitive globally when it buys 3x more expensive American LNG? Third problem: The European GDP has already been reduced during the last ten years from 25% of the global GDP to about 16%, while the “Global South” and especially the Asian countries are growing exponentially. Russia has already diverted its oil and gas production to China, India, the rest of Asia, and the world. It has formed an enormous defense alliance with China to protect its interests – not to mention that it has a 15-year advantage in missile technology and can sink any aircraft carrier at will… By defying free market principles, you cannot pretend to be a serious “energy player,” but you are fooling yourself and others.
Regarding bringing 3x more pricey American LNG to Greece (Revithousa terminal near my hometown of Pireaus and Alexandroupolis terminal just being built as we speak) and through Greece to Eastern Europe: Do you really think that Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, and the rest of Eastern Europe will EVER see economic growth and be competitive by buying expensive LNG from Texas – 7,000 miles away? Where did you study, Mr. Pyatt? In a failing Ivy League school like the rest of the half-educated American elites? Unbelievable defiance of any principle of arithmetic – forget about physics, math, and economics!!…
Specifically about Greece: Mr. Pyatt, if you were genuinely interested in Greece’s development, you would allow your “minions” in Athens to develop the vast deposits of oil and natural gas in Greece’s EEZ – some in very shallow waters (Ionian Sea) are very easy to develop. You have many ways to override the well-known bureaucracy in Athens – but instead, you are taking advantage of it to promote other goals. Why? Because you stupidly think you are achieving something by selling to Greece and Eastern Europe expensive American LNG (what are you going to sell when these countries go bankrupt soon? Have you seen recent electric bills in Athens?) and, second, because it has always been a part of your “strategy” to “bribe” the “Ottomans” with Greek sovereign rights to keep them tied to the West.
Please do not ask me again what the right American strategy would be – if all the above led to defying free market principles and facing other obstacles. Helleniscope has analyzed the real strategy that would benefit America often – link here for our article “Rex Tillerson and Vladimir Putin: How the Anti-Russia Sanctions Backfired and Hurt America”. Russia and Putin had invited EXXON-MOBIL CEO Rex Tillerson and all Americans to invest in Russia on a 50-50 basis (or something similar). Tillerson invested $2B in the Arctic, and your (yes, YOUR) sanctions destroyed the investment. Assuming that the total Russian mineral wealth is $150 Trillion (yes, with a “T” – it can easily be double this amount), do you realize how much wealth has been lost for American businesses thanks to your ineptness and delusionary policies? And how much wealth will go to China and elsewhere eventually?
All of that is because the ultimate interests you have been serving are based on the biggest vice of the “Judeo-Christian” civilization you represent: GREED. Ten centuries of Crusades, Colonialism, and Imperialism are now culminating in the delusional notion that the West will grab for free all the vast riches of Russia in Siberia and the Arctic… With War and Conquest, as always… Alas, this world has moved beyond your hegemonic, exploitative practices. You are destined for the “trash can of history”…
PLEASE WATCH GEOFFREY PYATT’S INTERVIEW WITH NAFTEMPORIKI BELOW, FOLLOWED BY A TRANSCRIPT OF SORTS – IT’S AN EYE-OPENER!!
October 10, 2024, n.stamatakis@aol.com www.helleniscope.com
DISCLAIMER: The views and statements expressed in this article constitute constitutionally protected opinions of this author.
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Greece’s transformation into an energy hub is amazing, Assistant Secretary at US Department of State Geoffrey Pyatt said in an exclusive interview with “Naftemporiki” and Michalis Psilos.
Former US Ambassador to Athens, Geoffrey Pyatt, is responsible at the State Department for Energy Resources and came to the Greek capital to participate in a workshop organized by the European Commission in collaboration with the Greek Ministry of Environment and Energy.
“The fact that the European Union is hosting this event here, together with Environment Minister Theodoros Skylakakis and Deputy Minister Alexandra Sdoukou, really highlights the amazing transformation that characterizes Greece, which has become an energy hub for all of Southeast Europe. We see huge progress in renewable energy sources, but also many possibilities of exploiting the new infrastructures,” Pyatt emphasized to “Naftemporiki.”
“The Alexandroupolis LNG Terminal, the expansion of Revythoussa, the Greece-Bulgaria Interconnector Pipeline (IGB), contribute to the reduction of Russia’s ability to use its energy resources to control all Southeastern Europe,” he added.
The “Vertical Corridor”
The US official expressed the strong interest of the United States in the “Vertical Corridor” of natural gas transport from Greece to Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Moldova and Ukraine, through the connection of existing and new European natural gas and LNG transport infrastructure.
Asked if the “Vertical Corridor” was something like a dream for him, he replied:
“Well, it is the dream of the US government. The entire US government supports this idea,” he stated and explained: “The purpose of this Corridor is to create an energy route from Greece to Ukraine and central Europe. Thus, central Europe is particularly positive about this initiative, as the EU has made huge progress towards its independence from Russian energy supplies.
Europe is never going to see Russia as a reliable energy supplier again, but natural gas is going to be an important part of the overall European energy mix for years to come. So, we have to create these new architectures, to differentiate the routes that will allow the delivery of supplies.”
Pyatt even expressed the hope that “a large part of the US LNG, coming to Revythoussa, and to Alexandroupolis, will bring great benefits not only for Greek companies and Greek consumers, but all the way through Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, North Macedonia and Ukraine.
“Energy independence from Russia”
The “Vertical Corridor” will also ensure that “Russia and Gazprom will not be able to earn revenue from energy exports, which they then use to make bombs and missiles,” Pyatt noted, stressing that Europe can become completely independent of Russian natural gas. I lived in the European Union until May 2022. Therefore, I saw the shock that Europe suffered. One of my last public appearances before completing my term as Ambassador was the opening of the Alexandroupolis facilities with the Prime Minister of Bulgaria. And this happened just after Gazprom had cut off gas supplies to Bulgaria. There was a real sense of fear. Today, Europe has reduced dependence on Russian energy to 15% from 40%, perhaps even lower.”
Alexandroupolis is a hub
Asked about the transformation of Alexandroupolis into an important hub for the EU’s energy infrastructure, the US deputy secretary emphasized the importance of the Evros capital for Europe’s energy security: “The next steps concern the completion of the natural gas pipeline from Greece to North Macedonia. I met with the CEO of DESFA and saw that this is on track.
Just yesterday, there was also the announcement of a Memorandum of Cooperation between North Macedonia and Serbia to build another natural gas pipeline there.
There will also be various investments in infrastructure that must be made to facilitate the “Vertical Corridor.” Instead of spending billions of dollars to build a new pipeline, we’re talking about just a few hundred million to remove bottlenecks and make an investment in the region’s future energy security.”
On Eastmed
Referring to plans to build the EastMed pipeline to transport Eastern Mediterranean gas to Europe via Greece, Pyatt stressed: “The first thing that needs to happen is to figure out how to get more gas from the Eastern Mediterranean in the market. One of the things that my current job has helped me understand much better is how important Israel’s offshore natural gas resources are. Much of this development has been undertaken by the US company Chevron. I am working closely with Chevron and the Government of Cyprus to explore opportunities in order to develop Cyprus’ energy resources. And then there’s Egypt. All these countries are working on similar resources, with great potential. But as natural gas is a transition fuel, the real challenge is how we will get this product to market as quickly as possible.”
Electrical interconnection of Greece-Cyprus
The other thing we are very excited about is the prospect of increased electrical interconnection. We are very supportive of the large undersea electricity interconnection between Cyprus and Greece. Pyatt also welcomed the “Gregy” project, which concerns the electrical interconnection of Egypt with Greece with an undersea electrical cable and the possibility of two-way energy transfer. An EU-backed project, with a total budget of 4.2 billion euros, that will transfer 100% clean energy – wind and solar – from Egypt, to Northern Greece and then to the European grid. A project of strategic importance as “we see a huge increase in energy demand in Europe, as well as in the United States. For artificial intelligence, new data centers, electric vehicles, a whole new electrified economy, which will enhance our ability to develop infrastructure and use these resources intelligently,” he underlined.
“Floating wind turbines from the shipyards of Elefsis”
Asked about plans to build offshore wind farms in the Aegean, the US official stressed that “Greece is already a regional leader, both in onshore wind and offshore wind. I saw it during my time as Ambassador in Athens: A huge development of Greece’s offshore wind capacity. I think the next stage will be the construction of floating offshore wind farms and this is an area in which we hope that Greece will play a regional leadership role. I am very proud of the work my team has done in this area. But also the team of Ambassador George Tsunis who promoted the idea of utilizing the shipyards of Elefsis. The Elefsis shipyards will not only be for shipbuilding, but also to support the development of floating offshore wind energy. It’s all about how we build energy supply chains for the clean energy transition.”
Cooperation with Turkey
After Athens, Pyatt is going to Istanbul to participate in a conference of the Atlantic Council institute on the issue of energy and the question we raised is about the possibility of energy cooperation between Greece and Turkey: “This is already happening through the ‘Southern Corridor’ natural gas transmission and the IGB pipeline, which depends on the cooperation between the Turkish BOTAS and DESFA, and would not exist without this cooperation,” he explained.
The Southern Natural Gas Corridor project aims to increase and diversify Europe’s energy supply by bringing natural gas resources from the Caspian Sea to European markets.
“I have been impressed by the leadership of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis for the stabilization of relations with Turkey,” the US official noted. “The Minister of Foreign Affairs, George Gerapetritis, and the Deputy Minister Kostas Fragogiannis have also done such a good job in the areas of economic cooperation. These plans will evolve based on market “signals” and overall political relationships, and that is in the hands of the leaders.
– In other words, it will strengthen the climate of friendship that we see today between Athens and Ankara….
Exactly. But there is always the question: What comes first? It is a chicken-and-egg situation. That’s a problem,” Pyatt pointed out.
“End the violence in the Middle East”
Concluding the interview, the US Deputy Secretary of State was asked about the dramatic developments in the Middle East and the fear of a generalized war between Israel and Iran.
“We all hope that diplomacy will get the upper hand at this stage,” the US official said. “But we have to remember where this started: It began on October 7, 2023, exactly one year ago, with the violent attack by Hamas against the people of Israel.
Foreign Secretary Anthony Blinken is working to find a solution every day. The main thing right now is to focus on diplomacy. We certainly understand how directly Greece is affected by this crisis, but also the important role that Athens will play, when the day comes, when we will focus our attention not in crisis management, but in reconstruction. The construction organization CCC, based in Athens, is after all the main provider of electricity in the Gaza Strip. And this issue of how we see energy in a future scenario, as a driver of regional cooperation, will come back to the fore. But first we have to end the violence.”
Another demonic psycho trying to control nations. A psycho power monger trying to erase Russia. This sociopath stated, “The “Vertical Corridor” will also ensure that “Russia and Gazprom will not be able to earn revenue from energy exports, which they then use to make bombs and missiles,” Pyatt noted, stressing that Europe can become completely independent of Russian natural gas.
But…but what about those US bombs and missiles? What will pie face Pyatt do about that?
Sheer evil.
Forcing Russia to divert energy from Europe to BRICS only accelerates development of the multipolar world and consequent collapse of hegemony. Western persistence in harming itself is tragicomedy.
Very well stated!.. we have had many examples of backfiring of the sanctions, yet just yesterday the EU imposed the 11th (or 12th?)round of sanctions! It’s more tragic than comic… Especially as the winter approaches and people will spend disproportionately to heat their homes…
Above all, I recall his 2014 conversation with potty-mouth Nuland.