Government studies gas pipeline option

The government is considering a report on the feasibility of building a gas pipeline between Gela in Sicily and Malta, Public Investments Minister Austin Gatt said in parliament yesterday.

The minister explained in reply to a question by Leo Brincat (MLP) that the government had been advised that it would be better, technically and financially, to have a pipeline between Sicily and Malta rather than tap into the pipeline between Libya and Sicily. The Italian company ENI, which owns the pipeline, was commissioned by the Maltese government to study the possibility of a pipeline from Gela, where the pipeline from Libya extends, and Malta. The report was submitted to Enemalta earlier this year and was now being considered by the government.