Greece, Egypt, Cyprus to step up talks on delineating offshore exploitation rights
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, center, speaks as Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, left, and Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades listen to him during their trilateral summit in Athens, Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2015. Greece's political and business leaders promised to expand trade deals with Egypt after meetings following a massive offshore natural gas discovery in the southern Mediterranean.
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| (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis) |
Associated Press | Dec. 9, 2015
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece, Egypt and Cyprus say they will speed up talks on how to stake out undersea territory in the Mediterranean, following the discovery of a large gas field off Egypt's coast.
At a meeting in Athens on Wednesday, the three countries' leaders issued a joint statement saying they would accelerate talks to resolve "outstanding issues" on delineating their maritime zones.
In August, Italian energy giant Eni announced the discovery of what it described as one of the world's biggest natural gas fields off Egypt. Cyprus and Greece are also hoping to exploit Mediterranean offshore gas and oil reserves.
After talks with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi and Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras voiced hopes that the three countries can cooperate on gas transportation to European markets.
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