Israel, Cyprus Resume Energy Talks

The president of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades will arrive in Israel on July 24 to discuss energy matters with Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Anastasiades will be accompanied by his foreign minister Ioannis Kasoulides and the energy minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis.

Although relations have improved in the last few years, Israel's reconciliation with Turkey last month might throw the spanner in the works pending a solution to the Cyprus problem.

Israel and Cyprus have been a long time negotiating the unitisation agreement for the Aphrodite gas field. According to a few estimates up to 10% of its reserves extend into Israel's exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

The situation with that field is entangled because two of the gas field's owners, Noble Energy and Delek Group are partners in Aphrodite gas field and are opposing any claim by Israel to part in the field, which, on the Israeli side, is licensed to another business group.

Another problem on the agenda would be achieving an agreement between Cyprus and Israel to lay a subsea gas pipeline from Israeli gas assets to Turkey. The 500-km pipeline would traverse Cyprus' EEZ, a plan that Cyprus has opposed.

During the last few years, and following the fallout in relations with Turkey, Israel tried to establish closer relations with Greece and Cyprus, two regional allies of Russia and Turkey's foes. The three countries conducted a tri-partite summit in Nicosia last January, but that was mainly a ceremonial and declarative event. 

However, Turkey, unlike Cyprus and Greece, is a regional superpower with an 80mn-strong economy. It always remained at the centre for Israeli policy makers. If it had been their call, a reconciliation agreement with Turkey might have been achieved some years ago and gas already be flowing to Turkey.

Ya'acov Zalel