Ukraine crisis spurs East Mediterranean gas hopes
Source: Reuters
ATHENS, May 15 (Reuters) - Europe's scramble for alternatives to Russian fuel as the crisis over energy transit state Ukraine rages has revived hopes that East Mediterranean gas can be shipped into the European Union.
Policymakers have even gone as far as to hope new gas routes could help to end years of bitter feuding over a divided Cyprus and galvanise some of Europe's most economically weak countries.
EU energy ministers meeting in Athens on Thursday and Friday will debate shipment routes for East Mediterranean gas as one of the options ahead of an EU summit next month, when the European Commission will submit an analysis of the issue.
"The geopolitical instability underlines the need for an all-European solution to bring gas from Israel and Cyprus to western Europe," an industry source involved in negotiations with Russia told Reuters, adding that Turkey should be included.
Read more: http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/05/15/ukraine-crisis-eu-gas-idINL6N0NQ02T20140515
Maybe Lebanon's too :
Lebanon says gas, oil reserves may be higher than thought.
(Reuters) - Lebanese Energy Minister Gebran Bassil said new estimates for nearly half of Lebanese waters suggested the country's reserves of natural gas and oil might be larger than previously thought.
"The current estimate, under a probability of 50 percent, for almost 45 percent of our waters has reached 95.9 trillion cubic feet of gas and 865 million barrels of oil," he said.
The estimates are based on seismic surveys conducted ahead of an auction for exploration rights which has already been delayed by several months by a political stalemate in Lebanon.
As Lebanon prepares to move toward exploring and developing its offshore oil and gas resources, Bassil said he hoped that hydrocarbon revenues would give the country "political, economic and financial independence".
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/30/us-meast-investment-lebanon-idUSBRE99Q07L20131030
http://www.offshore-technology.com/projects/leviathan-gas-field-levantine-israel/leviathan-gas-field-levantine-israel1.html