Attempts to commercialize the East Mediterranean natural gas province continue still with difficulty. The gas deposits in the Cyprus offshore continue to be at the centre of attention, while those of Israel and Egypt are set in relation to those. The issue that preoccupies observers is how to market the gas from Cyprus in Europe. Read More…
The authoritative text of the Convention on the Status of the Caspian Sea (Caspian Convention), signed August 12 in Aktau, Kazakhstan, is now available. After 23 years of negotiations, skepticism seems to be an influential trend in interpreting the Convention’s significance. It is easier for an expert to say, “Oh I didn’t expect such progress,” Read More…
After more than 20 years of negotiation, and despite all the skepticism, there is every indication that five-party the Convention on the Status of the Caspian Sea will be signed in Aktau, Kazakhstan, on August 12. In fact, it was clear last December that it would be signed soon enough, when the Russian foreign minister Read More…
European energy security policy reached a milestone in early June when the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP, after its Turkish initials) was opened. As the name indicates, the pipeline runs east-west across Turkey (1,850 kilometres) from the Georgian to the Greek border. It will carry, in the first instance, natural gas from Azerbaijan’s Shah Read More…
Two extremely important events for Turkey’s energy policy took place within days of each other at the end of May and in early June. The first was the formal opening of the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC). The second was the order, by Dutch courts, that Gazprom’s assets in The Netherlands should be frozen. That court Read More…