The Italian government has joined other states in the region raising tension in the Eastern Mediterranean by issuing a diplomatic "demarche" protesting Malta's publication of a tender for oil and gas exploration in areas of the Ionian Sea claimed by Rome.
In fact, Italy's government is preparing legislation delineating its economic exclusion zone over an area of the Ionian Sea, southeast of Sicily, and releasing tenders of its own for exploration licenses.
Italy's move comes on the heels of a growing dispute between Israel and Lebanon over the location of their maritime border, with potentially vast gas fields at stake. Behind the scenes, Iran is backing Lebanon.
Meanwhile, Turkey and Cyprus are also facing off over offshore gas exploration that is taking place off the southern coast of the island, adjacent to the recent large finds in Israeli waters.
Problems in Syria
And, of course, there are the ongoing problems in Syria, where civilian unrest has been brutally put down by forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, whose father Hafez ruled the country for 29 years until his death.
Then, too, there have been problems in Egypt, the region's main gas exporter, where the recently completed revolution may be on the ropes, with the worst riots in months taking place in Cairo.
The further potential trouble for the country was underlined by Prime Minister Essam Sharaf who addressed the nation in a televised speech, and said that the violence threatened to throw Egypt's post-Mubarak transition off course.
"These events have taken us back several steps," he said. "Instead of moving forward to build a modern state on democratic principles we are back to seeking stability and searching for hidden hands—domestic and foreign—that meddle with the country's security and safety."
Battling for Sirte
And finally, of course, we have to mention Libya where the war to oust former leader Moammar Gadhafi is largely over except for one thing: the apparently victorious National Transitional Council was last week still battling for control of Sirte, Gadhafi's hometown.
At the time, NTC commanders believed one of Gadhafi's sons, Mutassim, was holed up in Sirte and that another, Seif al-Islam, once seen as the former strongman's successor, is hiding in Bani Walid, possibly with his father. Of course, nothing will be 100% settled until Gadhafi is caught or killed.
That completes a snapshot of the region, and it's not a pretty picture for people interested in exploring for oil and gas. Indeed, Turkish warships accompanying research vessels into Cypriot waters got more headlines than any gas that could be found there.
And those are just the sort of worrisome headlines we need fewer of.
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