East-Med undersea pipeline project now ratified by Israel

Jul 20, 2020

Israel’s government ratified July 19 the East-Med pipeline agreement, which was signed last January with the governments of Cyprus and Greece. The three countries have agreed to advance a project of a pipeline that would transport natural gas from the eastern Mediterranean to Europe.

According to the project’s outline, the 1,900-kilometer (1,180-mile) undersea pipeline would be able to transfer up to 12 billion cubic meters a year from offshore gas reserves between Israel and Cyprus to Greece, and then onto other countries in southeast Europe. Italy is expected to be the first entry point to the continent. The project aims at providing around 10% of the European Union’s natural gas needs, thus diminishing the continent’s energetic dependence on Russia.

In 2009, drillings offshore located a significant gas find named Tamar. A year later, more gas was discovered in another undersea location named Leviathan. While some of the gas is expected to be sold to neighboring Egypt and Jordan, the East-Med pipeline should offer Israel the possibility of moving significant gas quantities to Europe. The country aspires to launch the pipeline in five to six years, with the hope that energy prices will go up again by then, after the coronavirus-induced crash.

Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz has been spearheading the project practically since its inception. His ministry says that pre-studies of the project indicate good technical, economic and financial feasibility. It also estimates that once the coronavirus pandemic is over, energy prices will stabilize anew.

For Israel, the construction of the pipeline could offer great economic advantage, on top of security benefits and a strong alliance with the partnering countries. Upon the signature of the agreement in January, Turkey’s Foreign Ministry slammed the deal, calling it “a new example of futile steps in the region that try to exclude our country and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.” Tensions over the project have grown even further in the last few months, over Turkey’s own exploration in the area and a deal it signed with Libya, delimitating maritime jurisdictions in the Mediterranean Sea.