Press Release: Commissioners host meeting to boost energy co-operation with Mashreq countries, Iraq and Turkey

European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, and European Commissioner for Energy, Andris Piebalgs, met representatives of the Mashrek countries, Iraq and Turkey on 5 May in Brussels to discuss improving energy security in the region and in the EU, in particular by deepening co-operation on natural gas. The meeting was attended the Minister of Oil and Mineral Resources of the Arab Syrian Republic, Sufian Al-Alao, the Deputy Minister and Chairman of Egyptian Natural Gas Company, Eng Mahmoud Latif, as well as senior officials from Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey. The meeting supported finalisation of the Arab Gas Pipeline, and promote its role as a future supplier of the Nabucco project. It also encouraged the full participation of Iraq in regional energy activities, including as a partner in the Arab Gas Pipeline.