Egypt and Turkey consider joint gas drilling

[Bengal_Tiger]

Turkey, Egypt mull joint Mediterranean gas drilling

Wed Sep 14, 2011 10:03am GMT


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CAIRO, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said on Wednesday Turkey may carry out gas exploration in the Mediterranean with Egypt and that it was considering importing gas from the north African country.
"Turkey and Egypt may work together in oil and gas, we have discussed this topic, now some time is needed, we may carry out exploration in the Mediterranean. We are importing natural gas from five countries, we are considering if we can add Egypt as the sixth, we are also in talks regarding LNG," Yildiz told reporters during a visit to the Egyptian capital.
Yildiz said Turkey had signed two energy memorandum of understanding deals with Egypt, one of them regarding cooperation of third-party countries and the other was related to power.
Yildiz also said Turkey would set up an electricity transmission line between Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Egypt and Libya in seven to eight years. (Reporting by Tulay Karadeniz, writing by Jonathon Burch)

http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaN...7KE1BH20110914

[Bengal_Tiger]

To some this may seem relatively dry and unimportant information. This is not.

This is BIG.

1. This is a clear sign and warning to Israel, which has made an agreement with Cyprus to dig for gas in its waters.

2. Turkey a week or two ago said it would start sending more ships to "protect maritime shipping in the eastern Mediterranean", what it actually meant was "Israelis keep your hands off Cypriot Gas or there will be trouble."

3. In response to the Israeli-Cypriot axis, Turkey is countering by developing a Turkish-Egyptian axis. The latter is obviously far stronger, especially with Egypt having the Suez canal.

[Bengal_Tiger]

Turkey v Cyprus (Greece) and Israel in the Meditteranean

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/...7KD2CJ20110913

Cyprus, Turkey spar over gas drilling

















Tue Sep 13, 2011 2:32pm EDT

* Cyprus says to press on with plans to drill
* Turkey says action "not acceptable"
* Dispute comes at sensitive time in the region (Adds Turkish foreign ministry, detail, edits)


By Michele Kambas
NICOSIA, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Cyprus and Turkey exchanged heated words on Tuesday over Cypriot plans to drill for offshore oil and gas next month, adding to ill temper over peace talks on the divided island at a time when Turkey is also feuding with Israel.
Following remarks last week by Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan affirming Ankara's readiness to deploy its navy across the Mediterranean, Cypriot President Demetris Christofias issued a statement denouncing Turkish "threats" and saying EU-member Cyprus would expect a response from its foreign allies.
A spokesman for Turkey's foreign ministry hit back by criticising the plan by the Greek Cypriot government to start exploiting oil and gas reserves before having reached a peace settlement with Turkish speakers whose administration in the north of the island is recognised only by Ankara.
The exchange of rhetoric over the undersea resources of the Levant Basin reflects long-standing territorial disputes over who controls the waters between Cyprus, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, the Palestinian Gaza Strip and Egypt.
It comes as efforts to narrow differences between Greek and Turkish Cypriots on ending the 37-year division of the island are stalled ahead of an October summit called by the United Nations, and as relations between Israel and Turkey have been soured by last year's Israeli raid on a Turkish ship off Gaza.
Christofias said in his statement that his government would press ahead with plans to explore for oil and gas: "Concerning the possibility of Turkey committing an unlawful act, something which we hope will not happen, we will expect a strong and effective response from the international community."
He added: "In addition to questioning the sovereign rights of the Cyprus Republic, Turkey is also threatening our country and its associates ... It is causing tension in the region, sending the message that it acts like a troublemaker and violates international norms."


TURKEY SAYS "NOT ACCEPTABLE"

Texas-based Noble Energy , under licence from the internationally recognised government of Cyprus, is expected to start exploration work in one offshore sector southeast of the island around the beginning of October. Tenders for other offshore blocks are expected later this year or next.

In response to Christofias, a Turkish foreign ministry spokesman told Reuters: "The Greek Cypriots are creating a fait accompli in the eastern Mediterranean while they are negotiating with the Turkish Cypriots. This is not acceptable because the natural wealth of the island belongs to both sides."

Christofias said that Turkish Cypriots, who have largely depended on Ankara since Turkey invaded the island in 1974 after a Greek-inspired coup, would have their share of the resources once there was a political settlement.

The U.S. Geological Survey last year estimated a mean of 1.7 billion barrels of recoverable oil and a mean of 122 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas in the Levant Basin Province, although disputes over control have held back exploration.
Israel has recently reported two major gas finds

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


What will happen, will Israel back down and not dig in Cypriot waters?

Will there be a stand off, a resolution or a Turkish-Israeli military skirmish in the Mediterranean?

[Bengal_Tiger]

Turkish ship begins oil exploration off Cyprus

By SELCAN HACAOGLU and MENELAOS HADJICOSTIS





ANKARA, Turkey Turkey is using its navy and air force to escort a ship conducting oil and gas exploration off Cyprus, an official said Tuesday, in the latest development in a dispute over the ownership of the divided island nation's natural resources.

Cyprus is split into an internationally recognized Greek Cypriot south and a breakaway Turkish Cypriot north. The southern government began exploratory drilling for oil and gas last week, prompting strong protests from Turkey, which doesn't recognize the Greek Cypriot administration.

In response, Turkey signed an oil and gas exploration deal with the Turkish Cypriots and sent a Turkish research ship to the Mediterranean to start exploration. The breakaway Turkish Cypriot state is only recognized by Turkey, which maintains 35,000 troops there.
Cyprus joined the European Union in 2004, but only its south enjoys membership benefits.
"We will try all channels of peace, but we will also protect our country's interests until the end," Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey said Tuesday at an unrelated ceremony to mark the delivery of the first Turkish-made corvette warship to the navy.

The Turkish research ship, Koca Piri Reis, began its exploration Monday, but Turkish and Turkish Cypriots officials refused to reveal the ship's exact location then.
Cyprus licensed U.S.-based Noble Energy Inc. to search for oil and gas near recently discovered Israeli offshore fields that contain more than 450 billion cubic meters (15.9 trillion cubic feet) of natural gas. Cyprus is exploring areas, around 115 miles (185 kilometers) off Cyprus, near where Israel discovered gas.
Umut Yenice, the captain of the Koca Piri Reis ship, told Turkey's state-run Anatolia news agency Tuesday that the vessel reached its destination about 50 miles (80 kilometers) off Cyprus the day before. He said the ship with 21 people aboard is in frequent contact with the escorting Turkish ships and planes.

Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said the research vessel is "where it is supposed to be," without providing details.
Cyprus Foreign Minister Erato Kozakou-Marcoullis questioned the ship's ability to search for undersea oil and gas deposits but said Cyprus was closely following the developments. "Certainly all these moves by Turkey on a military level are being monitored daily by our ministry," she said. Kozakou-Marcoullis also said her government was briefing unidentified international players "who must act at the appropriate moment."

In a telephone conversation with Erdogan on Monday, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou urged "restraint" by all countries in the east Mediterranean, adding that Greece backs Cyprus' activities that remain within its sovereign rights.
Greece and Turkey disagree about areas for exploration for oil and gas in the Aegean and the Mediterranean. Turkey does not accept that islands have their own continental shelf, while Greece insists they do under international law.

The two countries came close to war in March 1987, when a Turkish research ship sailed into the Aegean Sea.
The current dispute also could jeopardize the island's long running reunification talks. Turkey said Greek Cypriots should avoid drilling or exploiting any possible discoveries until a peace accord has been reached, while Cyprus said Turkish Cypriots would eventually benefit from any fuel discovery.
The U.N.'s envoy for the divided island, Alexander Downer, urged for restraint to avoid derailing the peace talks and said the United Nations would consider mediating a resolution to the drilling dispute, if both sides asked for it.
Cyprus government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou rejected the offer, saying the exploratory drilling is unrelated to the peace talks and permitted under international law.

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/finan.../D9Q106P81.htm

[Bengal_Tiger]

Turkey is said to be merely using the excuse of revenue to go to Turkish Cypriots as an excuse (even by Turks) which isn't valid anyway under international law.

To be quite honest it is bullying Cyprus.

It's a cruel world out there and it is usually western powers out there who bully others or invade them, this time it is a non-western power pressurizing a western state.

Turkey is establishing itself as the regional power in the eastern Mediterranean, reminiscent of Ottoman times.