The Greenstream pipeline, part of the Western Libyan Gas Project, is a

natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...

submarine

pipeline A pipeline is a system of Pipe (fluid conveyance), pipes for long-distance transportation of a liquid or gas, typically to a market area for consumption. The latest data from 2014 gives a total of slightly less than of pipeline in 120 countries ...

running from western

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

to the island of

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

History

The idea of natural gas from Libya to Italy originating from the 1970s. Feasibility studies were carried out in the 1980s and 1990s. Construction of the pipeline started in 2003. The pipeline's main contractor was

Saipem Saipem S.p.A. (Società Azionaria Italiana Perforazioni E Montaggi lit. ''Drilling and Assembly Italian Public Limited Company'') is an Italian multinational oilfield services company and one of the largest in the world. Until 2016 it was a sub ...

, that used for pipeline laying the

Castoro Sei The ''Castoro Sei'' (Italian for ''Beaver Six'') was a column-stabilized semi-submersible pipelay vessel. She had an overall length of , a width of and an operating draught of . The ''Castoro Sei'' was equipped with 2 rotating gantry cran ...

and Crawler vessels. The shore approach and landfall works were done by Boskalis Offshore. The supplies started on 1 October 2004 and the pipeline was inaugurated on 7 October 2004 by

Silvio Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; 29 September 193612 June 2023) was an Italian Media proprietor, media tycoon and politician who served as the prime minister of Italy in three governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a mem ...

and

Muammar Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi (20 October 2011) was a Libyan military officer, revolutionary, politician and political theorist who ruled Libya from 1969 until Killing of Muammar Gaddafi, his assassination by Libyan Anti-Gaddafi ...

Technical features

The Greenstream pipeline is long and it runs from Mellitah in Libya to

Gela Gela (Sicilian and ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the regional autonomy, Autonomous Region of Sicily, Italy; in terms of area and population, it is the largest municipality on the southern coast of Sicily. Gela is part of the Province o ...

, in

, Italy. It is located in water depths exceeding . It includes also the Mellitah compressor station and the Gela reception terminal. The pipeline is supplied from the Bahr Essalam offshore field, Bouri Field and Wafa field near

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

n border, from Mellitah. The construction cost US$6.6 billion. The pipeline has a diameter of and an initial capacity of 8 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas per year. Later the capacity was increased to 11 bcm.

Ownership

The pipeline is constructed and owned by Agip Gas BV, a joint venture of the Italian energy company

Eni Eni is an Italian oil and gas corporation. Eni or ENI may refer to: Businesses and organisations * Escuela Nacional de Inteligencia, the Argentine intelligence academy * Groupe des écoles nationales d’ingénieurs (Groupe ENI), a French engi ...

and the National Oil Corporation (NOC) of Libya.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Greenstream pipeline Energy infrastructure completed in 2004 Natural gas pipelines in Libya Natural gas pipelines in Italy Tripolitania Italy–Libya relations Pipelines under the Mediterranean Sea 2004 establishments in Italy 2004 establishments in Libya

History

Technical features

Ownership

See also

References

External links