The National: Different gas ambitions in the Eastern Mediterranean

Crossing the dividing line from the Greek Republic of Cyprus to Turkish-backed Northern Cyprus is simple enough. Past the crossing point on Ledra Street, churches give way to mosques, Starbucks and designer fashion shops to Ottoman caravanserais and family tailors. But this frontier, which presents no impediment to tourists, has so far been an impassable barrier to gas.

In late September, a drill-ship contracted to Italy’s ENI and South Korea’s Kogas arrived to start drilling south-east of Cyprus, adjacent to the Israeli maritime border. It was shadowed by a Turkish navy corvette, as Turkey considers these waters disputed, a reminder of the island’s drawn-out division. But none of the contenders for the Eastern Mediterranean’s gas – Israel, Lebanon and Egypt being the others – has an easy route to wealth.

When a consortium led by US-based Noble Energy found giant gas fields in the Eastern Mediterranean in 2009 and 2010, Turkey – Europe’s fourth largest gas market, and a route to the EU – seemed the obvious export market. But with no resolution to the division of Cyprus in view, and the island lying firmly in the way of any pipeline route, Cyprus and Israel have had to look elsewhere for buyers.
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