The National Interest: The Coming Mediterranean Energy War

A significant gas find offshore has propelled hopes for brighter future in the Mediterranean. For the Republic of Cyprus, it came as a blessing amid the deteriorating Eurozone crisis. The rating agencies had downgraded the Greek-populated southern part of the island four times in 2011 to its current Standard & Poor's rating of BB- because of unhealthy links with the defaulting Greek financial system.

In December 2011, the U.S. company Nobel Energy discovered some seven trillion cubic feet of natural gas off the southern Cypriot coast. This “marks the beginning of a new era of prospects that open up for [this] country, the area and Europe” said Greek Cypriot energy minister Praxoula Antoniadou, who claims her country will have electricity for about two hundred years. The EU would also benefit from a new source of energy that might help wean it from its dependency on Russian gas.

The Greek Cypriots' new partner in the gas endeavor, Israel, adds pressure to the island's already complex relations with Turkey. And Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Nicosia this week will do nothing to reduce tensions.  MORE