A new North Sea? Exciting discoveries in the Eastern Mediterranean indicate vast reserves

摘要

The discoveries of immense energy reserves in the last five years both in the Levant basin located along the shores of Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Gaza, and Cyprus and in the Nile basin north of Egypt offer the promise of a new "North Sea." According to preliminary geological surveys, the Levant basin contains 3.5 Tcm (123.6 Tcf) of gas and 1.7 Bbbl of oil. The Nile basin contains 6 Tcm (212 Tcf) of gas and 1.8 Bbbl of oil. This world-class energy potential has initiated a flurry of competitive invitations from countries in the wider region - including Turkey, Montenegro, Malta, and Greece - to survey and explore promising areas. New discoveries this year include Israel's Karish field, located 32 km (20 miles) northeast of the supergiant natural gas field Tamar, and the discovery of high-quality oil only a few miles north of Gaza in 5,791 m (19,000 ft) of water. Greece's Prime Minister Antonis Samaras recendy announced estimated reserves of 4.7 Tcm (166 Tcf) of natural gas lying offshore - an amount mat exceeds the combined reserves of Cyprus and Israel.