Another energy bonanza, another international crossfire with hydrocarbons in the middle.
The place is the eastern Mediterranean, where Noble Energy and partners have made deepwater gas discoveries with gross mean resources estimated at 35 tcf.
Most of the fields are off Israel, where Noble will bring deepwater behemoth Tamar field on stream as early as next month. The operator plans to develop even larger Leviathan field to the west and is exploring export options for the gas. Noble has other discoveries nearby, including Tannin, Dolphin, and Dalit.
Just to the west in Cypriot waters, Noble has yet another big deepwater discovery called Aphrodite.
Other operators have been drawn to the play. Cyprus recently signed production-sharing contracts with Total and a combine of Eni and Kogas of South Korea.
Inevitably, the good fortunes of Israel and Cyprus have made wary neighbors grumpy.
Yuri M. Zhukov, a fellow with the Program on Global Society and Security at Harvard University’s Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, summarized the simmering pressures in a Mar. 20 article on the Foreign Affairs website (foreignaffairs.com).
Many of the eastern Mediterranean’s maritime boundaries are in dispute, Zhukov wrote. Lebanon thus claims part of Leviathan field. Hezbollah, for which Lebanon is a stronghold, has threatened to attack Israeli gas platforms.
Cyprus and Israel agree on their water boundary, but Turkey doesn’t recognize Cyprus’s maritime borders. It fears Turkish Cypriots won’t benefit from gas development. Turkish northern Cyprus claims a share of the country’s natural resources and challenges its PSCs.
Turkey’s relations with Israel are deteriorating, especially after Israeli commandos boarded one of its relief ships bound for Gaza in 2010. Turkey plans naval exercises off Cyprus and threatens to drill in Aphrodite field.
Egypt and Syria would be part of this fray if they weren’t busy with internal problems, Zhukov pointed out.
If international tension rises as a function of exploratory success, more probably is in store. The Levant basin remains lightly explored. Noble thinks it holds oil, too.
(Online Mar. 22, 2013; author’s e-mail: [email protected])