Hurriyet Daily News: Why The Natural Gas Trade is Good for Turkey-Israel Ties

Turkey and Israel have experienced a deep freeze in their diplomatic relations for nearly six years. Now that the two Middle Eastern powers are seeking to improve their ties, the natural gas trade could help. Here are five reasons why.

1) Israel could be an excellent supplier for Turkey

Israel’s proven natural gas reserves currently stand at around 900 billion cubic meters (bcm). Although that figure is miniscule compared to the reserves of gas giants Russia (34 trillion cm), Iran (32 tcm), and Qatar (25 tcm), Israeli natural gas offers unique advantages for Turkey.

Since 2009, Israel has granted licenses to the U.S. company Noble Energy to explore and process the natural gas under the Levant Basin in the eastern Mediterranean. The gas from the Tamar and Leviathan fields could easily reach Turkey via underwater pipelines, and Tel Aviv’s relatively simple bureaucratic procedures also make it an attractive partner for Ankara.

Although Ankara recently signed liquefied natural gas (LNG) deals with Qatar, shipping gas from the Persian Gulf is not cost-effective. Likewise, even though Iran has the second largest gas reserves in the world, its infrastructure is still underdeveloped. It will be a while before more Iranian gas can reach Turkish consumers. MORE