The discovery of the giant gas field Tamar of the coast of Israel in 2009 was the beginning of a new period for the Eastern Mediterranean as an energy hot spot. More recently Exxon and Qatar Gas have discovered another giant gas field off the coast of Cyprus , and Italy’s Eni found more energy deposits off the coast of Egypt . To put the numbers into perspective, the Eastern Mediterranean contains approximately 2,100 billion cubic meters of gas compared to the EU’s consumption in 2017 which was 410 bcm. It shows that the recoverable reserves are more than sufficient to supply the entire EU for a couple of years. Despite the significant discoveries, technical difficulties and geopolitical tensions could raise barriers for infrastructure projects that would connect producers with customers. Furthermore, several alternatives are being considered by the littoral states Egypt, Cyprus and Israel to transport the energy […]