November 11th, 2015
Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades is set to arrive in Israel on Friday to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the unitization agreement between the two countries,Globes business newspaper reported.
The two leaders met just a few weeks ago in Cyprus and though details of their meeting was not made public, it can be assumed it was centred around natural gas. This time however discussions are of a more urgent nature and likely part of Mr. Netanyahu's attempt to secure the approval of Israel's regulatory framework for its natural gas industry.
Over the coming weeks Mr. Netanyahu will have to convince Parliament's Economic Committee of the necessity of the regulatory framework, though he does not need its approval in order to sign it himself in his capacity as Minister of Economy.
Israel and Cyprus have yet to sign a unitization agreement that will resolve the differences and disagreements between the two countries, mainly concerning the distribution of natural gas deposits in the Aphrodite field in the Cypriot EEZ. According to assessments, approximately 1% of the natural gas from the Aphrodite field is in Israeli territorial waters. Hence the controversy over gas distribution.
Five years ago the two countries signed a maritime border agreement demarcating the border between the Cypriot EEZ and the Israeli EEZ. Since then, however, discussions between both sides on unitization have failed to reach agreement.
Signing a unitization agreement will enable Noble Energy and Delek Group, partners in developing both the Aphrodite and Leviathan gas fields, to export gas either through Egypt or Turkey.
