US launches pipeline initiative, support of Southern Interconnection pipeline
US Energy Secretary Chris Wright, in Dubrovnik, Croatia, Apr. 28 for the Three Seas Initiative Summit, noted the launch of a new Trump Peace Pipelines Framework that could enable the construction of additional natural gas infrastructure to support an expansion of US LNG exports to Central and Eastern Europe.
In conjunction with the announcement, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) signed a major deal to build the Southern Interconnection Gas Pipeline, a 236-km project to reduce dependence on Russian gas. The US supports the bidirectional pipeline, which would extend from the Krk LNG terminal on the Adriatic Sea near Split/Zagvozd in Croatia to central Bosnia and transport about 1.5 billion cu m/year (bcmy), Sec. Wright said. Construction is slated to begin later this year.
AAFS Infrastructure and Energy, a US-based energy and infrastructure investment and trading company with ties to President Trump, will help finance the deal. AFS president and director Jesse Binnall represented Trump in efforts to challenge the 2020 election results and vice-president Joseph Flynn is the brother of Trump’s former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.
The US produces as much gas as Russia, China, and Iran combined, according to the Department of Energy (DOE). The US also leads the world in LNG exports and is on track to more than double its exports within the next decade, DOE added.
About the Author
Cathy Landry
Washington Correspondent
Cathy Landry has worked over 20 years as a journalist, including 17 years as an energy reporter with Platts News Service (now S&P Global) in Washington and London.
She has served as a wire-service reporter, general news and sports reporter for local newspapers and a feature writer for association and company publications.
Cathy has deep public policy experience, having worked 15 years in Washington energy circles.
She earned a master’s degree in government from The Johns Hopkins University and studied newspaper journalism and psychology at Syracuse University.