Today's Zaman: 10 bcm of Israeli Gas Planned in First Phase of Turkey Deal
Late on Wednesday, both Turkish and Israel officials confirmed a deal to normalize relations following high-level bilateral talks in Switzerland. The deal dictates that the two countries would discuss the building of a pipeline to bring natural gas from Israel to Turkey, media cited Israeli officials as saying on Thursday. Hopes that Turkey and Israel would normalize ties after more than a five-year diplomatic spat will help accelerate progress in talks for a potentially multi-billion dollar project to carry Israeli natural gas to Turkey, officials familiar with the issue said on Friday. “Between 8 bcm to 10 bcm of gas would initially be transferred via a pipeline to Turkey's Mersin port,” the source told Today's Zaman. "Third parties maintained talks for a possible gas pipeline deal even at the worst times of political crisis between the two countries, now we expect progress to accelerate in this regard. The talks will now concentrate on the route of a potential pipeline, partnership structure and price, the source added. Zorlu Enerji, a consortium of Turcas and Enerjisa, Çalık Holding and Enka are the Turkish firms who have reportedly been carrying out talks with their Israeli counterparts on a pipeline to carry Leviathan gas. Shares in Zorlu Energy rallied more than 10 percent based on the news on Friday.
Thursday's deal comes on the heels of the signing of a critical agreement by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that clears the way for Israel to sell its gas to countries including Jordan, Palestine, Turkey and Egypt. The deal signed by Netanyahu will also enable the development of the country's giant offshore field Leviathan believed to hold nearly 22 trillion cubic feet (tcf) in gas reserves. Israel plans to export around 40 percent of this reserve. Leviathan is estimated to cost at least $6 billion to develop. It is meant to begin production in 2018-20 -- although that timetable now looks ambitious -- and supply billions of dollars' worth of gas to Egypt and Jordan, and possibly Turkey and Europe. Experts say Turkey remains one of the most feasible routes for the Israelis to market their gas to energy-poor European markets. Turkey, largely dependent on imports for its energy needs, has ramped up efforts to find new sources of natural gas due to worsening tensions with Russia after Turkish forces shot down a Russian warplane involved in bombing rebels in northern Syria near the Turkish border last month. MORE