FT: Israel’s energy policy decisions awaited

When Benjamin Netanyahu forms a new government in Israel in coming days, it will have a full agenda of pressing business, including plans to cut a growing budget deficit and to restart peace talks with the Palestinians.

One of the new cabinet’s most expected policy decisions is how much of its vast offshore natural gas reserves it will export and how much it will reserve for domestic use.

With Israel emerging as a regional energy power, the deliberations will be watched beyond its borders. Inside Israel two main investors in the sector are positioning themselves to export gas, possibly via new pipeline projects that could reshape the map of the eastern Mediterranean by deepening ties between Israel, Turkey and other states in the region.  MORE