13/11/2015
A tripartite meeting between Cyprus, Israel and Greece to be held in Nicosia towards the end of January will again focus on energy cooperation.
This is what informed sources from Tel Aviv said on Friday after talks between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and visiting President Nicos Anastasiades.
Just before the high-level meeting, Netanyahu welcomed Anastasiades saying his country and Cyprus are very close in geography, in values, in interests and in spirit.
Netanyahu also said that he wanted to discuss with him the whole range of their relations.
“Everything. Trade, Energy, Tourism, visits of heads of states….Cyprus and Israel are sufficiently close and we can visit each other again and again. I am happy to see you again in a spirit of real friendship,” he also said.
Anastasiades’ response was: “I look forward to our talks, and the deliberations always help furthering our relations and I am sure that we are going to be, as always, on the same track.”
Informed sources said Anastasiades will engage in some hard bargaining over gas agreements with Israel.
The excellent relations that Cyprus enjoys with Egypt and Jordan along with the understanding that Cyprus traditionally has demonstrated towards Palestinians, has secured the president a free pass to the Arab world.
At the same time, Cyprus has never been closer to Israel. This is Anastasiades’ second visit this year and the third since he was elected president in March 2013.
Relations between Israel and Cyprus warmed up quickly after US-based Noble Energy and its partners found natural gas deposits in both Israeli and Cypriot waters.
However, a unitisation agreement remains pending. An agreement of this type would regulate the co-exploitation of hydrocarbon reserves that extend across the maritime border.
This is not a theoretical issue but a real one, as the gas in Cyprus’ Aphrodite field could extend across the Israeli border.
Lack of agreement is holding up the development of Cyprus’ Israeli and Cypriot gas fields.
Pressure to resolve the issue has increased following the giant gas discovery by Eni in Egyptian waters.
The 30 trillion cubic feet (tcf) found in the Egyptian Zohr gas field has created a new momentum for developing hydrocarbons in the region, while also putting Egyptian gas in competition with Israeli and Cypriot gas.
Israel and Cyprus have been working on the unitisation issue, according to Energy Minister George Lakkotrypis in an interview with the state broadcaster CyBC last month.
It is hoped that the state visit can wrap up a final agreement between the two countries.
“Diplomatic relations between Cyprus and Israel are exceptionally good,” according to a person familiar with the matter.
“Both countries are well known for being tough negotiators but the fact that they are already in a dialogue is a strong indication of a positive outcome,” a former senior official told the Cyprus Weekly.
Earlier this week, Reuters reported that the Israeli energy minister, Yuval Steinitz, said he “expects offshore gas exploration to accelerate in the next few months, with investments from some of the world’s largest oil and gas companies”.
According to the Israeli energy minister “experts estimate there are between 10,000 and 15,000 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas in the east Mediterranean basin”.
However, the development of the Israeli Leviathan field hit another snag this week when a petition was filed at the Israeli High Court of Justice to try to prevent Netanyahu from approving a deal with Noble and Delek that would break the regulatory delay over Leviathan.
Last December the Israeli Antitrust Authority ruled that the two companies were a monopoly — something which would prevent them from developing Leviathan — and Netanyahu has been trying to find ways round it ever since.
SOURCE
