Friday, November 8, 2013

Cyprus and Lebanon to start negotiations for a production-sharing agreement | Famagusta Gazette


Cyprus Energy Minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis and his Lebanese counterpart Gebran Bassil met in Nicosia to discuss hydrocarbon issues

8/11/13 - Cyprus and Lebanon have agreed to start negotiations immediately for a production-sharing agreement concerning their hydrocarbon resources.

Cyprus Energy Minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis and his Lebanese counterpart Gebran Bassil met in Nicosia to discuss hydrocarbon issues.

As Lakkotrypis stated after the meeting, “we have agreed to start the discussion and conclude it as soon as possible”.

“We are opening a new era of a good cooperation between Lebanon and Cyprus in oil and gas” said Bassil said from his part, adding that Lebanon could constitute a potential market for Cypriot gas.

Both sides said the meeting was conducted in an excellent climate, reflecting the level of relations between the two countries.

According to Lakkotrypis, both sides briefed each other on the current state of hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation efforts and said they agreed to exchange experiences and knowledge.

The Lebanese Minister referred from his part to the historic relations between the two countries, expressing hope that they will be “translated into real economic relations”.

Bassil said moreover that his country was “open to discuss everything”, adding that Lebanon is keen to correct the mistake - as he put it - relating to the border between Lebanon and Israel.

We hope that with a future understanding, we can correct it and build the future together, the Lebanese Minister said.

He added that Lebanon may provide Cyprus with an alternative market to export its gas, noting that Beirut is also in need for gas.

On the LNG plant Cyprus plans to construct at Vassiliko area, on the southeastern coast of the island, Bassil said that Lebanon regards it in a positive light. “It can be also a possible diversification solution for our gas exports” he said.

He noted that the two countries share a “gift from God”, the rich hydrocarbon resources, and expressed hope to utilize them for the benefit of their people.

Bassil said finally that the vision for Lebanon-Cyprus relations includes other areas as well, such as water, transportations and even wine.

Cyprus is currently developing natural resources discovered within the Republic’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), while several international companies are involved in hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation activities.

The country has signed separate agreements with Egypt, Lebanon and Israel to delimitate its EEZ. The agreement with Beirut has not been ratified due to a difference between Lebanon and Israel.

SOURCE

The questionable wisdom of piping Israeli gas through Turkey | i24news

The reported political obstacles to the construction of a natural gas pipeline between Israel and Turkey are but another confirmation that relations between the two countries are strained. This last Israel-Turkey row also provides an opportunity to ponder the wisdom of building an Israeli pipeline to Turkey, in the first place.

There are good reasons why Israel and Turkey are considering the construction of such a pipeline. Turkey is a natural gas importer, while Israel is about to become a natural gas exporter. Not only is Turkey trying to diversify its gas imports in order to reduce its dependency on Russia’s expansive natural gas, it also wants to solidify its key role as a transit country for energy flows: Turkey is strategically located at the crossroads of energy exporters (the Middle East and the Caucasus) and energy importers (European countries). As the EU will likely become an importer of Israel’s natural gas, Turkey could provide a transit route for an Israeli gas pipeline to Europe.
However, relying on Turkey as a transit country for Israel’s exports to Europe would constitute a long-term strategic mistake.

The infrastructure for the delivery of natural gas (either via pipelines or liquefaction) is complex and expensive, which is why exporting and importing countries are generally locked in long-term agreements. Hence the need to carefully understand the potential risks of the Turkish option.

Building an Israeli pipeline via Turkey would likely undermine the emerging energy partnership between Israel and Cyprus. Noble Energy, the company that discovered the Tamar field off Israel’s coast, also discovered a field of comparable size (Aphrodite) off Cyprus. As a result, Israel and Cyprus control together about 40 billion cubic meters of natural gas – which represents two years’ worth of the EU’s natural gas consumption.

This is why an energy partnership between Israel and Cyprus is taking shape. Turkey, however, is opposed to such a partnership. Because of the Turkish occupation in northern Cyprus and because the tensions between Cyprus and Turkey, Israel cannot have it both ways and will eventually have to make a choice.

In January 2013, the Director of Israel’s Ministry of Energy, Shaul Tzemah, suggested the possibility of an energy partnership between Israel and Turkey. Right after that, Turkey’s Deputy Energy Minister Murat Mercan retorted that Israel would first have to apologize for the Mavi Marmara incident, compensate the families of the victims, and end the military blockade of Gaza. Even if Israel were to meet these demands, Mercan added, it would have to end its energy cooperation with “Greek Cyprus.”

The long-term trends clearly suggest that Israeli-Turkish ties will continue to deteriorate. The tension started way before the Mavi Marmara incident and is deeply rooted in President Erdogan’s Islamist ideology and policy.

Edorgan’s political mentor is Necmettin Erbakan, a former Turkish prime minister whose foreign policy was based on trans-Islamic solidarity and uncompromising opposition to Israel. As soon as he became premier in 2003, Ergodan’s foreign policy followed the path of his mentor.

In March 2004, Erdogan called Israel a “terrorist state” following the assassination of Ahmed Yassin. In February 2006, he received Hamas leader Khaled Mashal in Ankara. In January 2009, Erdogan publicly humiliated Shimon Peres at the Davos conference. In October 2009, Turkish state television started airing a series showing Israeli soldiers murdering Palestinian children. In November 2009, Erdogan declared that he would rather meet Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir (who perpetuated a genocide in Darfur and in South Sudan) than Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In March 2010 Erdogan claimed that the Temple Mount, Hebron and Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem were never Jewish sites. All of this happened before the Mavi Marmara incident.

In February 2013, Erdogan called Zionism a “crime against humanity” and in August 2013 he claimed that Israel was responsible for the military coup in Egypt. Obviously, Erdogan’s hostility to Israel is irrational. It was not caused by the Mavi Marmara incident, it was not fixed by Israel’s apology, and it will not be mended by international mediation between the two countries.

As long as Erdogan and his Islamist party are in power in Turkey, relations with Israel will continue to deteriorate. Therefore, relying on Turkey for Israel’s gas exports to Europe would be a mistake. Israel should pursue its partnership with Cyprus, instead, and build any future gas pipeline to Europe via Greece.
Dr. Emmanuel Navon heads the Political Science and Communication Department at the Jerusalem Orthodox College and teaches International Relations at Tel-Aviv University and at the Herzliya Interdisciplinary Center. He is a Senior Fellow at the Kohelet Policy Forum.

Link to article: http://www.i24news.tv/en/opinion/131107-piping-israeli-gas-through-turkey-is-a-really-bad-idea

Cyprus in Plan to Develop a Natural Gas Industry | New York Times

Cyprus in Plan to Develop a Natural Gas Industry

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LONDON — Cyprus, seeking to rebuild its economy after the collapse of its banking industry, will announce on Thursday an agreement with Total, the French oil giant, to develop a plant to liquefy natural gas, the Cypriot energy minister said.
Andreas Manolis/Reuters
The Cyprus energy minister, Yiorgos Lakkotrypis, is a former Microsoft executive.
Many questions remain, including where the gas would come from, given that Cyprus’s own offshore natural gas reserves have yet to be developed — or even fully explored. But the government is intent on liquefying natural gas to turn it into a shippable export product, part of a long-term strategy to pull the economy out of the deep recession that followed its financial crisis this year.
The deal with Total is highly speculative, though. The pact will be nonbinding and will depend on Total’s discovering gas in the offshore areas it is now exploring.
“Total follows with interest and supports the government’s efforts to promote the development of a gas liquefaction project in Cyprus, whose membership in the E.U. is a major asset,” the company said.
Building the facility, which could cost as much as $6 billion, “is not going to solve all the problems,” the energy minister, Yiorgos Lakkotrypis, a former Microsoft executive, said in an interview on Tuesday in London. “But it is going to go a long way for psychological reasons.”
Converting natural gas to liquefied form makes it feasible to export by ship, rather than requiring the construction of new pipelines.
Cyprus is still years away from having a natural gas industry of any sort. But the involvement of Total would give credibility to the effort. “What it potentially brings is an experienced player into the monetization of Cypriot gas,” said Catherine Hunter, an analyst at IHS, a market research firm in London.
Cyprus also probably hopes that Total would confer a kind of European seal of approval to ward off potential opposition from Turkey, which still controls the northern part of the island, a legacy of its 1974 invasion of Cyprus. Turkey objects to the Cypriot government’s awarding exploration tracts to foreign companies on the grounds that any oil and gas wealth should be shared with the island’s Turkish Cypriot residents.
Ms. Hunter said a liquefied natural gas, or L.N.G., plant on Cyprus might be eligible for European Union funds on the grounds that a new source of gas within Europe would contribute to energy security and create competition for dominant suppliers like Gazprom of Russia.
But Turkish hostility is only one of the obstacles to Cyprus’s gas export ambitions. The biggest question mark lies over the availability of the gas itself.
Noble Energy, based in Houston, found a large gas field called Aphrodite in deep water off southern Cyprus in 2011. Originally the amount of gas was estimated at five trillion to eight trillion cubic feet. But after Noble conducted further testing, Mr. Lakkotrypis said, the estimate was lowered to 3.6 trillion to six trillion cubic feet.
Either way, that is a lot of gas. If Cyprus used gas instead of burning fuel oil for most of its needs, about 10 percent of that would be enough to power the country for 20 years, Mr. Lakkotrypis said.
Yet it may not be enough to supply an L.N.G. facility by itself, analysts say. The industry rule of thumb is that a single-unit L.N.G. facility, which chills the gas to a liquid, requires about six trillion cubic feet of gas to make the plant economically viable.
A two-unit plant, which Mr. Lakkotrypis said could cut unit costs 30 percent, would require about 12 trillion cubic feet, far more than Cyprus’s estimated reserves.
It is possible that more gas will be found. Both Total and the Italian energy company Eni are exploring. Cyprus is in an area called the Levantine basin, where exploration began only in the last couple of decades and which the industry thinks contains large amounts of gas.
Cyprus has already identified the site for the L.N.G. plant at Vasilikos, an industrial zone on the south coast of the island, and is beginning the design work. Noble has been helping with that effort, but Mr. Lakkotrypis says that Total would probably be in charge. “Only the likes of Total can be the operator,” he said.
In some respects, building the plant could take on a life of its own. Mr. Lakkotrypis said construction would employ about 4,000 people — enough to make at least a small dent in the 75,000 unemployed. Cyprus, he said, is already on its way to becoming a regional hub for the energy industry.
Noble, which has Israeli partners, has found a very large field called Leviathan in Israeli waters not far from the boundary with Cyprus. J. Keith Elliot, Noble Energy’s head of eastern Mediterranean operations, said in an interview this summer that the company thought there was more to find in its own exploration block and in others. “In our view there is quite a bit of exploration left to do,” he said.
But finding more gas would take time. There have been hopes that Israeli gas from Leviathan might go to a Cypriot plant, if built. But talks on the subject have yet to produce an agreement, and Israel has many options — including building its own L.N.G. facilities and sending gas by pipeline to its neighbors.
There are questions, though, about who would buy the gas. Demand for L.N.G. has been weak in Europe of late and the production of shale gas in the United States could soon lead to American exports. “Global dynamics in the L.N.G. market paint an uncertain picture for future demand,” said Katan Hirachand, managing director for energy project finance at Société Générale in London.


Link to article: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/07/business/international/cyprus-in-plan-to-develop-a-natural-gas-industry.html?_r=1&

Greece encouraged by Ionian Sea hydrocarbon survey | UPI

Greece encouraged by Ionian Sea hydrocarbon survey

Nov. 8, 2013 at 12:32 AM   |   0 comments

ATHENS, Greece, Nov. 8 (UPI) -- Greece this week hailed the preliminary results of an oil and gas survey in the Ionian Sea showing similarities to earlier finds in Italian and Albanian waters.Greek Energy Minister Yiannis Maniatis, speaking Wednesday at a petroleum industry conference in Athens, said the first conclusions of a seismic survey carried out in the Ionian and south of Crete by the Norwegian company Petroleum Geo-Services were promising.
Maniatis said the initial findings revealed geological analogies between the underwater area of the North Ionian and Italian and Albanian regions of the sea where oil and natural gas have already been found, the Greek daily To Vima reported.
In the findings, PGS reported "a diversity of geological characteristics of the Greek subsoil and a corresponding number of potential petroleum resources" -- potentially good news for the cash-strapped country, which is seeking to improve its financial situation by ramping up its oil and natural gas production.
Greece says it believes it has at least $600 billion of gas and oil reserves, while the U.S. Geological Society has estimated the Ionian Sea holds 22 billion barrels of oil off western Greece.
The report notes that the 1981 discovery of the Katakolon oilfield in the Ionian is evidence of the presence of a system of hydrocarbons off the western Peloponnese region, while the area south of Crete remains unexplored.
PGS was chosen last year to undertake the seismic surveys after it performed similar work off the coast of Cyprus that led to the tapping of the first hydrocarbon reserves in the island's exclusive economic zone.
A research vessel collected data for three months in an 86-square-mile zone stretching from the northern Ionian Sea to 125 miles south of Crete. Since then, it has been evaluating the data.
The first round of concessions in the area are slated to be tendered in mid-2014, and if there are takers, drilling could start the same year.
Maniatis said the government has already started the process of opening the doors for three plots, while negotiations with short-listed companies are in the final stages. The exploration rights to exploit hydrocarbons there are expected to be ratified in the coming weeks by the Greek Parliament, broadcaster ANT1 reported.
The findings were revealed at the American Association of Petroleum Geologists conference in Athens, which drew a roster of oil majors, including E.ON, Chevron, Eni, Exxon Mobil, Gazprom, OMV, RWE, Shell, Petronas, as well as foreign diplomats.
Maniatis used the occasion to declare Greece had "entered the map of global energy" and to assure the industry players the country is stable and eager to work with them to develop its resources.
He stressed its energy institutional framework is in line with EU regulations and oil industry standards, and asserted Greece's corporate tax "can only be reduced and not increased," To Vima reported.
"Greece is an extremely attractive place to invest in a sustainable and contemporary context and invites companies to invest while respecting the environment," he said.


Read more: http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Energy-Resources/2013/11/08/Greece-encouraged-by-Ionian-Sea-hydrocarbon-survey/UPI-99101383888720/#ixzz2kZaAzdE7



Link to article: http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Energy-Resources/2013/11/08/Greece-encouraged-by-Ionian-Sea-hydrocarbon-survey/UPI-99101383888720/

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Cyprus, French energy company sign memorandum on natural gas plant | Shanghai Daily

Cyprus, French energy company sign memorandum on natural gas plant

NICOSIA, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- Cyprus and French giant Total energy company signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Thursday to develop a natural gas liquefaction terminal on the south shores of the eastern Mediterranean island.
According to an official announcement, the MoU sets down Total's commitment to give priority consideration to using the plant for liquefaction and export of natural gas to Europe and Asia.
It states that the two sides agreed to cooperate in connection with the future use of the liquefaction plant taking into consideration Total's views on the development of the project.
Total has secured two offshore blocks in the Cyprus marine Exclusive Economic Zone and is expected to start exploratory drilling for both gas and oil next year.
Cyprus has also signed a similar MoU with Texas-based Noble Energy, which has already tapped a gas reserve in a separate block, estimated to contain between 3.5 and 5.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
Cyprus is negotiating with Israel to jointly develop the liquefaction plant which will also serve exports by Israel, which has tapped huge amounts of natural gas in the Levantine basin of the eastern Mediterranean.
Gas reserves in Cyprus' Exclusive Economic Zone are estimated at over 60 trillion cubic feet, but the gas is not expected to reach land before 2020.
Economically depressed Cyprus is pinning its hopes for economic recovery on income from the building of the liquefaction plant, which will provide employment opportunities for thousands of unemployed people and future gas sales.
The project, along with constructing an undersea gas pipe, is estimated at 10 billion euros (13.4 billion U.S. dollars).
The European Commission recently approved three projects of common interest which concern Cyprus, one of them being a feasibility study for a natural gas pipeline from Cyprus to Greece.
Cyprus entered into a 10-billion euro bailout agreement with international lenders earlier this year and its banking system was dealt a near-mortal blow when it was forced to recapitalize by using uninsured depositors' money.
A group of technocrats from the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund is set to conclude a second review this year of the Cypriot economy on Thursday, which government sources expect to be successful.
This will entitle Cyprus, which has been shut out of international markets since May 2011, to receive more loan money to finance its government operations.


Link to article: http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/article_xinhua.aspx?id=178727

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Ukraine ramps up shale revolution, signs $10bn gas deal with Chevron | Russia Today

Ukraine ramps up shale revolution, signs $10bn gas deal with Chevron

Published time: November 06, 2013 11:20
(L-R sit) Chevron's General Manager for Europe Derek Magness , Ministrer of Ecology and Natural Resources of Ukraine Eduard Stavytsky and Viktor Ponomarenko, Chairman of the National Joint Stock Company "Nadra Of Ukraine" sign documents as (L-stay) Geoffrey Pyatt, US Ambassador to Ukraine, and President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych (C) and James Jones (R) Process Control Consultant at Chevron attend during the ceremony in Kiev on November 5, 2013. (AFP Photo)
(L-R sit) Chevron's General Manager for Europe Derek Magness , Ministrer of Ecology and Natural Resources of Ukraine Eduard Stavytsky and Viktor Ponomarenko, Chairman of the National Joint Stock Company "Nadra Of Ukraine" sign documents as (L-stay) Geoffrey Pyatt, US Ambassador to Ukraine, and President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych (C) and James Jones (R) Process Control Consultant at Chevron attend during the ceremony in Kiev on November 5, 2013. (AFP Photo)
Kiev and Chevron have agreed to jointly develop Ukraine’s shale gas in a joint venture estimated at $10 billion, another step towards Ukraine's 2020 goal of energy independence.
The government signed a 50-year production-sharing agreement (PSA) with Chevron to extract shale gas in western Ukraine, Energy Minister Eduard Stavytsky said at a press interview in Kiev on Tuesday. 
"This is one more step towards achieving full energy independence for the state. This will bring cheaper gas prices and the sort of just prices which exist (elsewhere) in the world," Stavytsky said after signing the agreement with Chevron chief Derek Magness.
Ukraine’s is close to signing a EU trade association agreement in Vilnius in late November, a move which could trigger a new series of trade and gas wars with Russia, who in October demanded Kiev 'immediately' pay its $882 million gas debt. 
“The cost of gas production will be at least three times lower than what Ukraine is paying for in imports,”Stavytsky told journalists Tuesday.
Chevron will invest $350 million in the first 2 or 3 years to explore shale gas in the Olesska field, which is located across two regions – Lviv, which borders Poland, and Ivano-Frankivsk, which shares a border with Romania to the south.
The 2,000 square mile Olesska oil field is expected to produce 5 billion cubic meters per year, and at full capacity could hit 8-10 billion cubic meters, Stavytsy said.
Together with the Yuzivska shale field located in the eastern Donetsk region, over five years, Ukraine could reap an extra 11 to 16 billion cubic meters of gas, according to government officials. Royal Dutch Shell signed a PSA on January 1 2013 to develop Yuzivska shale reserves.
To compare, Naftogaz, Ukraine’s financially troubled state gas utility in October said 17 billion cubic meters of gas would be ‘enough’ to heat Ukraine through the winter.
European countries hope to match the US shale gas boom, and the energy independence it has brought. However, Europeans have shown much more political dissent towards fracking, and already, Chevron has pulled out of shale exploration deals in Lithuanian and Romania.  
Ukraine sees shale gas as a win-win: they can both cut costs and move away from Russian gas. 

Gas debts

It’s the end of the year again, which means Ukraine, as it appears to do every year, is scrambling to pay its gas bill to Russia. Ukraine has started to pay off its $882 million debt for Russian gas throughout the year, but not very much, Gazprom spokesperson Sergei Kupriyanov told Interfax on Wednesday, who called it just a ‘drop in the ocean’.
“Ukraine has an extensive non-payment credit history for Russian gas, piling and restructuring debt,”Aleksey Grivach, deputy director of Gas Projects at Russia's National Energy Security Fund, told RT.
“However, after signing the 2009 ‘pre-pay’ contact, Naftogaz has become a more disciplined buyer. Since then, there have been a few minor delays, but they have managed to settle on good terms,” Grivach said.
Since the ‘pre-pay’ contract was established, Ukraine has excessively complained of ‘expensive’ gas prices, which average around $400 per thousand cubic meters for Russian gas.
Ukraine currently imports more than half of its gas from Russia. It is speeding up its effort to diversify its supply, and has looked at different exporters, fracking, new offshore projects in the Black Sea, as well as new LNG terminals and pipes to diversify supply. 
“The other alleged Ukrainian projects to diversify supply - an LNG terminal in Odessa, the White Stream pipeline from Azerbaijan, or the new idea of an LNG pipeline in Croatia- none of these are serious,” Grivach said, unconvinced by the feasibility of these plans
At the press conference Stavytsky said his government is discussing other PSAs with Exxon, ENI, and Electricite de France SA, for exploration of the Black Sea shelf.


Link to article: http://rt.com/business/ukraine-chevron-shale-gas-284/

Cyprus Joins the Middle East | Daniel Pipes


N.B.: 
Washington Times title: "Cyprus rides a troubled sea of oil and gas opportunity."


Link to article: http://www.danielpipes.org/13588/cyprus-oil-gas

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

PIPES: Cyprus rides a troubled sea of oil and gas opportunity | Washington Times

By Daniel Pipes, Tuesday, November 5, 2013

The republic of Cyprus has entered into the maelstrom of the world’s most volatile region, thanks to newfound gas and oil reserves, combined with an erratic Turkish foreign policy and a civil war in Syria. Even as leaders of this Mediterranean island show skill dealing with these novel threats and opportunities, they need support from a strong U.S. Navy, something not now available.

Cypriot underwater gas and oil discoveries follow directly on ones found earlier in Israeli seas, located adjacent to them and uncovered by the same American (Noble) and Israeli (Delek, Avner) companies. The current estimate of 5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, as well as some oil, has a value estimated at $800 billion, a huge sum for a small country whose current gross domestic product is a mere $24 billion.

The great majority of this energy will likely be exported to Turkey or Europe. A pipeline to Turkey would be cheapest and easiest but so long as Turkish troops continue to occupy 36 percent of Cyprus, this will not happen. A recent court decision permitting the Israeli government to decide what quantities of energy to export now offers other possibilities: Cyprus could swap gas with Israel that then goes to Turkey, or the two allies could jointly build a liquefied natural gas terminal in Cyprus.

Eventually, should Egypt, Gaza, Lebanon and Syria find gas and join the modern world, they too could take part, turning the area between Egypt and Cyprus into a truly major resource. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the contiguous Nile Delta and Levantine basins together contain an estimated 345 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 3.44 billion barrels of oil.

These newfound reserves can help either solve or inflame the Cyprus problem. The Cypriot government wisely delimited its maritime boundaries with Egypt in 2003, Lebanon in 2007 and Israel in 2010. It has contracted new exploration to France’s Total, Italy’s Eni and South Korea’s Kogas. Energy-hungry Turkey looms over this treasure, however. Ankara wants its northern Cyprus puppet-state to receive part of the income from the new reserves, while Turkey’s 1974 invasion of the island raises fears that its erratic and roguish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, might invade the republic’s territory.

Mr. Erdogan and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu have pursued an ambitious foreign policy of “zero problems with neighbors” which, ironically, has led instead to zero friends. Strained relations with Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Serbia raise the prospect of Ankara reverting to an older Turkish pattern of lashing out at Cyprus and Greece. In both cases, for instance, it could encourage disruptive refugee flows.

This is where the brutal civil war underway in Syria, just 70 miles away, enters the equation. So far, that conflict has not had a major impact on Cyprus, but the island’s proximity, its minimal defense capabilities, and its membership in the European Union make it exceedingly vulnerable (an illegal immigrant setting foot on Cyprus is close to reaching Germany or France). The 2.2 million refugees from Syria since 2011 have so far bypassed Cyprus in favor of Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Egypt and Iraq, in that order. However, this could quickly change if the Alawites living closest to Cyprus take to the sea in sizable numbers, or if Ankara encourages Syrians to emigrate to northern Cyprus and then sneak across the border into the republic.

Unlike nearby Israel, which is also surrounded, Cyprus lacks either a military option or protective fences: The personnel of the Turkish armed forces, about 700,000 strong, approximate the size of the entire population in the republic of Cyprus — about 850,000. Put another way, Turkey’s population outnumbers that of Cyprus by nearly 100 times. Nicosia can, however, create alliances, especially with Israel, to enhance its security. Israel in turn gains by combined gas operations, strategic depth for its air force and a diplomatic friend. As an aide to Cyprus’ President Nicos Anastasiades told me, “We are Israel’s ambassador in the European Union.”

So far, so good. The U.S. Navy, though, has been hollowed out in the Mediterranean Sea to the point that Seth Cropsey, a former Navy official, describes the 6th Fleet as just a command ship in Italy and a few ballistic-missile destroyers in Spain. This force urgently needs to be revitalized to support America’s Levantine allies as tensions further heighten in their immediate region.

Daniel Pipes (DanielPipes.org), president of the Middle East Forum, recently visited Cyprus.

SOURCE

Turkish Companies' Efforts To Import Israeli Natural Gas Face Diplomatic Roadblock | International Business Times

Turkish Companies' Efforts To Import Israeli Natural Gas Face Diplomatic Roadblock

on November 04 2013  

Turkish energy companies are trying to import Israeli natural gas via pipeline, but a diplomatic chill between the two countries has made such deals difficult.

The eastern Mediterranean is experiencing a natural gas boom with recent discoveries in the Levant Basin, a stretch of sea that extends from the coasts of Cyprus, Israel, Lebanon and Syria, which is estimated to contain 122 trillion cubic feet of gas. As a result, Israel is in the midst of a natural gas bonanza and ready to export the commodity to its neighbors.
Turkey relies on such exports and its demand for natural gas is only growing. The country gets natural gas through pipelines that originate in Azerbaijan, and Istanbul is looking to diversify its energy portfolio, unless it involves Israel.
Relations between the two countries have been strained since May 2010, when Israeli navy commandos stormed a ship that was seeking to break an Israeli naval blockade of Hamas-controlled Gaza and killed nine Turkish activists. That strain has affected efforts of Turkish energy companies to diversity Turkey's energy sources.
However, recent comments by leading Turkish officials suggest that Zorlu and Turcas may have problems doing a deal for Israeli natural gas imports.Most recently, Turkey's Zorlu Energy has reportedly been in talks with Israeli firms, Reuters reported Friday. Also, Istanbul-based Turcas Holding last month offered Israel $2.5 billion to construct a 292-mile pipeline to bring natural gas from Israel to Turkey.
“We have issues with Syria, an issue based on a principle,” Ahmet Davutoglu, the Turkish foreign minister, said. “But let me say it clearly: The Turkish government has never cooperated with Israel against any Muslim country, and it never will.”
Davutoglu's comments came in response to a recent Israeli strike on a Syrian missile base. Many in the West and in Israel view the comments as hypocritical as Turkey itself heavily criticizes Syria and calls for military action against the regime. The comments are the latest in a string of antagonistic tirades made by leading Turkish officials. Back in 2011, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Israel-denouncing prime minister of Turkey, warned about Israel’s and Cyprus’ plans to work together in developing the energy resource in the region.
"Israel cannot do whatever it wants in the eastern Mediterranean. They will see what our decisions will be on this subject,” Erdoğan said. “Our navy attack ships can be there at any moment."

SOURCE