Over the last decade, the Eastern Mediterranean has emerged as a potential world-class natural gas producing region. This new scenario progressively materialized as natural gas fields were successively discovered offshore of Israel, Cyprus, and Egypt. These developments soon impacted geopolitical discussions as regional governments, international organizations, energy analysts, and international relations scholars advocated using the newly-discovered natural gas resources as a tool to promote regional cooperation and peace. However, several lines of conflict – such as the long-lasting dispute concerning the island of Cyprus – make the exploitation of Eastern Mediterranean natural gas resources a major geopolitical issue. This chapter seeks to provide a concise overview of Eastern Mediterranean natural gas developments in order to assess the related geopolitical challenges and opportunities.

Over the last decade, the Eastern Mediterranean has emerged as a potential world-class natural gas producing region. This new scenario progressively materialized as natural gas fields were successively discovered offshore of Israel, Cyprus, and Egypt. These developments soon impacted geopolitical discussions as regional governments, international organizations, energy analysts, and international relations scholars advocated using the newly-discovered natural gas resources as a tool to promote regional cooperation and peace. However, several lines of conflict – such as the long-lasting dispute concerning the island of Cyprus – make the exploitation of Eastern Mediterranean natural gas resources a major geopolitical issue. This chapter seeks to provide a concise overview of Eastern Mediterranean natural gas developments in order to assess the related geopolitical challenges and opportunities.