Cyprus continues energy outreach with Israel agreement

Continuing its push to strengthen regional ties on the back of its energy potential, Cyprus agreed to expand cooperation with Israel this week, including pipeline and grid sharing as a means of reaching the European market. According to Israeli media reports, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades stated that they would increase collaborations to exploit the full potential of the offshore natural  gas reserves claimed by each country.

“There is palpably renewed energy in our relationship, I mean that figuratively and literally,” Netanyahu said, according to a Haaretz report. “… We think that by cooperating with each other we can take it out more easily, we can market it better, to the betterment of both our societies.” Over the last five years, Cyprus has made a concerted effort to strengthen ties in the Eastern Mediterranean region based on the country’s new-found energy status. This has included downplaying historical tension, striking up technical and logistical sharing efforts and, in the case of Turkey, paved the way towards easing decades of separation.

While this effort has not always worked miracles, it has established Cyprus as a happy middle-man in a region with a viable, potential energy future, both as a producer and transport hub for reserves further afield. This effort dates back to a 2011 discovery by Cyprus, but progress has been slow as the country’s weakened economic standing has made it difficult to nail down the financing needed to pursue exploration, production and export options.

However, according to recent reports, only one company has had any success in finding offshore reserves in the region. According to a Reuters report, Texas-based Noble, “discovered a field with an estimated 4.5 trillion cubic feet of gas south of Cyprus in 2011. It is close to Israel’s Leviathan with its estimated 22 trillion cubic feet of reserves.”

The country’s progress and access to potential export markets could be helped by new collaborations with Israel. While the two leaders offered few specifics about what this closer relationship might ultimately mean, they did allude to an Eastern Mediterranean pipeline and a Eurasia interconnector, “a private project to transport to Europe electricity powered by natural gas.”

http://www.forbes.com/sites/christophercoats/2015/07/30/cyprus-continues-energy-outreach-with-israel-agreement/?ss=energy