Page 7 - MEOG Week 34

MEOG COMMENTARY MEOG

an undeveloped discovery in Cyprus’ waters, are Yavuz and three support vessels would be oper-
thought to have been a significant attraction for ating in the Eastern Mediterranean south-west
Chevron. of Cyprus between August 18 and September 15.
The US Geological Survey (USGS) estimated The company added that it was “strongly recom-
in 2010 that the Eastern Mediterranean’s Levant mended not to enter the working area”.
Basin could hold a mean of 1.7bn barrels of Also this week, Turkish newspaper Daily
recoverable oil and 122 trillion cubic feet (3.5 Sabah reported that the country’s third drillship,
trillion cubic metres). The basin is largely located Kanuni, would soon set sail to join Fatih and
in Israeli and Cypriot waters, but considerable Yavuz in the Eastern Mediterranean.
potential exists in the broader Eastern Mediter- However, vessel-tracking websites showed
ranean region, as shown, among other finds, by that Fatih was still in the Black Sea, where it had
Egypt’s Zohr field. been drilling the Tuna-1 prospect since mid-July,
The picture is complicated, however, by as of August 18.
relations between some of the countries in the The Oruc Reis seismic vessel’s recent
region. Notable here is the breakaway Turkish manoeuvres, meanwhile, came within a week
Republic of Northern Cyprus, which is recog- of Greece and Egypt signing a deal to create an
nised only by Turkey and has been a particularly exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in waters that
thorny issue for Cyprus and Greece since its contain oil and gas reserves. This, however, con-
establishment. flicts with a rival EEZ that Turkey and Libya have
The officially recognised Republic of Cyprus sought to establish.
claims sovereignty over the island’s waters, but After Turkey sent the Oruc Reis ship into
Northern Cyprus disputes this, with support waters south of the Greek island of Kastellorizo,
from Turkey. France stepped into the dispute, demanding that
Exploration in Turkish waters, meanwhile, Turkey stop its “unilateral” oil and gas explora-
has not led to any major gas discoveries, while tion in contested waters.
the country appears to be increasingly excluded This was followed by French President
from shared energy infrastructure being devel- Emmanuel Macron deciding to bolster his coun-
oped in the region among some of its neigh- try’s military presence in the Eastern Mediter-
bours. A significant recent example is the plan ranean, which Paris described as a temporary
for developing Cyprus’ Aphrodite discovery, move allowing France to better monitor the
into which Chevron will be entering through situation in the region. The enhanced French
its acquisition of Noble. Under the development presence will include two Rafale warplanes that
plan submitted to the Cypriot government, a will be based on the Greek island of Crete and
subsea pipeline would carry gas from Aphrodite two ships.
to a liquefaction facility in Egypt. From there, The news of French involvement has not
Eastern Mediterranean gas could be exported as prompted Ankara to back down.
LNG to Europe and beyond, bypassing Turkey. “No foreign nation, company or ship will be
allowed without permission into our maritime
Exploration push areas,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Under these circumstances, Turkey has become said on August 13 in comments that appear to
increasingly bold in its attempts to share in the be directed at France. “We see provocations by
Eastern Mediterranean’s hydrocarbon bonanza. a country that has no coastline in the east Medi-
Last year, it was already saying it would continue terranean pushing Greece and the Greek Cypriot
drilling for gas in contested waters off Cyprus administration to take wrong steps.”
if the Cypriot government did not accept a Under current plans, the Oruc Reis will
co-operation proposal put forward by Northern continue its work in the contested waters until
Cyprus. August 23. However, Turkey looks increasingly
Last year, Turkey sent the Yavuz and Fatih isolated in its regional push. Greece and Cyprus
drillships into these contested waters off Cyprus. have called for EU sanctions against Turkey, but
Now, it is once again bringing at least one of its have failed to secure the support of other mem-
drillships – and perhaps more – into play in the ber countries on this. Nonetheless, pressure on
region. Turkey from EU countries – and potentially
This week, Turkish state news agency Anato- from those in the Middle East and North Africa
lia reported that TPAO had sent a telex via the with claims to Eastern Mediterranean waters –
Navigational Telex system, Navtex, stating that appears likely to intensify.™

Week 34 26•August•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P7