News

Environmentally friendly fuel in focus at high-level Sharm El Sheikh meeting

19-02-2010

The final meeting on ‘Regional Cooperation for Clean Utilization of Oil Shale’ will be held in Sharm El Sheikh on 24-25 February, according to a press release from the EU-funded project MED-EMIP (the Euro Mediterranean Energy Market Integration Project).
 
MED-EMIP is supporting the development of an environmentally friendly, energy efficient and financially attractive utilization of oil shale – a coal-like fossil fuel with low energy content, which can be used in an environmentally friendly way, contributing to the energy mix of a country. The project has been called to moderate and support a dialogue about the use of oil shale in four partner countries, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Syria, as well as Turkey.
 
The Sharm El Sheikh meeting will be attended by senior officials from Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Syria and Turkey, the Arab League, Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC), the European Commission (EC) as well as many regional and international companies.
 
The press release said that with no significant cheap oil and gas discoveries expected in the future, all major oil companies were looking into unconventional hydrocarbons such as oil shale. Unconventional hydrocarbon reserves exceed the conventional ones of oil and gas, and the oil companies are spending billions on their development, MED-EMIP said.
 
The term oil shale generally refers to any sedimentary rock that contains solid bituminous materials that are released as petroleum-like liquids when the rock is heated in the chemical process of pyrolysis. Oil shales contain about 10 per cent hydrocarbons and can be either retorted to get shale oil that needs to be upgraded to refinery quality or can be directly burned to produce electricity.
 
MED-EMIP is a platform for energy policy dialogue and exchange of experiences, leading to enhanced Euro-Med cooperation, integration of the energy markets and improved security and sustainability. It is funded by the EU with a budget of €4.1 million and runs between 2007 and 2010. (ENPI Info Centre)
 
Press release
 
MED-EMIP – fiche and news
 
MED-EMIP - website
 
ENPI Info Centre feature – Tracking the sun: the MED-EMIP and MEDREG projects in Egypt
 
ENPI Info Centre webpage – energy     

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