Reuters, 01/02 15:36 CET
By Luke Baker
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel,
Cyprus and Greece have agreed to deepen their energy, security and
tourism ties in the Eastern Mediterranean, a deal that may have
implications for Israel’s testy relationship with the European Union,
too.
The agreement, signed in Nicosia last week by a beaming
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Greek premier Alexis Tsipras and
Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades, focused on energy and the
exploitation of natural gas deposits off Israel and Cyprus.
The Leviathan and Aphrodite fields are unlikely to start
exporting before 2019 or 2020. Nevertheless, the ambition is to
transport gas by pipeline, possibly via Turkey, or in liquefied form by
ship to Europe, plugging the East Mediterranean into Europe’s grid and
providing an alternative to Russia – which has far worse relations with
the EU due to the Ukraine crisis.
With global energy prices expected to remain low for some
time, analysts question whether East Mediterranean gas will be the
bonanza investors hope, but that didn’t prevent the leaders singing the
praises of their joint declaration.
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