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Brussels appears to be expanding the number of options it will consider in Europe’s long-running push towards expanding their natural gas options by expressing interest in what the Eastern Mediterranean has to offer. Speaking at a conference in Cyprus just before the New Year, European Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger offered a cautious confidence that the Eastern Mediterranean natural gas find could play a part in Europe’s push towards finding cleaner, more secure energy alternatives.
Oettinger’s comments come as a part of the wider European community’s effort to encourage cleaner energy options and those not subject to increasingly unstable political situations. Most notably, the Eastern Mediterranean gas discoveries could offer a viable alternative to Russian reserves – a central goal of Brussels’ energy aims.
The Cyprus setting for the gathering is especially notable as the island EU member state offers Europe the clearest shot at the offshore gas reserves. According to a United States Geological Survey, the Levant Basin, shared by Lebanon, Israel and Cyprus, offers up about 122 trillion cubic feet in recoverable gas and an estimated 1.7 billion barrels of oil. For Cyprus in particular, the Levant offers access to an estimated 5.1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas within the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone. According to Reuters, the country’s Industry and Tourism minister Neoclis Sylikiotis suggested they would be able to meet domestic needs with local natural gas by 2017 and earn export revenue by 2019.
Currently, both Italy’s Eni and France’s Total are in talks with Cyprus to discuss production-sharing agreements for offshore natural gas, offering an entry point for the European market.
While the potential of the region’s natural gas discoveries is substantial, Europe will be entering already turbulent waters if it chooses to move beyond its connection to EU member state Cyprus. Beyond Nicosia, the Eastern Mediterranean gas issue has been the subject of increasingly tense interactions about conflicting maritime claims and access to what, in a politically less charged world, could offer energy independence of some sort to much of the region for years to come. Instead, long standing political divisions have simply moved into the gas sector, with Lebanon at odds with Israel, Turkey at odds with Cyprus and Egypt wondering if there is any room left for Cairo. Brussels saving grace amidst all the pressure may be the fact that Cyprus has worked hard to strike a middle ground among the region’s many interested parties, striking a neutral tone and olive branch in every direction.
For Israel at least, this tension has done little to slow their progress towards meeting both domestic and export needs with their existing and expected gas discoveries. Sure to be music to the ears of expectants EU consumers, the committee charged with deciding how the country’s current and expectant discoveries would be split doubled their estimates late last summer. Led by Ministry of Energy and Water Resources director general Shaul Tzemach, the Tzemach Committee announced that they would now allocate about 84 percent of available natural gas for export use, with the assurance that additional reserves be found that would ensure domestic demand is first met.
The pace of progress there may owe something to the low number of active players involved in Israeli development. According to a source with a stake in the region, many larger stake firms have kept their distance as not to hurt their partnerships with countries that would not be keen on collaborating with Israel.
