Israel’s Energy Ministry has recommended three energy companies not to start work on the Aphrodite gas field until the country reaches an agreement wih Greek Cypriots to solve the Yishai gas field dispute.
The director general of Israel’s Energy Ministry, Udi Adiri, penned a letter to Delek Drilling CEO Yossi Abu, Noble Energy SVP Keith Elliot and Shell East Med GM Chris Breeze, saying: "I wish to advise you that the State of Israel has not relinquished its share of the Aphrodite-Yishai natural gas reservoir, and has no intention of doing so."
Adiri also underlined that development must not commence until an agreement is reached between the governments of Israel and Greek Cypriots.
The letter dated Nov. 24 reiterated Israel’s long-standing position that an agreement is needed to “facilitate the fair exploitation and development of the field.”
One option that has been raised, Adiri said, was for the licensed companies on both sides to negotiate directly, subject to approval from both governments.
Noble and Delek declined to comment on the letter. Shell did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
The Greek Cypriot administration and Israel have been in dispute for several years over the gas reserves that straddle their maritime border, with no guarantee of any immediate resolution.
Cyprus last month signed a 25-year concession with Noble Energy, Shell and Delek Drilling for exploitation of the Aphrodite field, which was first discovered in 2011.
Greek Cypriot Energy Minister Yiorgos Lakkotrypis said the development of Aphrodite and efforts to reach an accord with Israel were unrelated.
“With or without a deal, if it is proven that there is natural gas which is on the Israeli side and is being pumped out by our side, the Republic of Cyprus will of course compensate the Israeli side accordingly,” Lakkotrypis said.
The Aphrodite field holds an estimated 4.1 trillion cubic feet of gas. At stake is about 10 percent of the deposit, which is a fraction of the gas already discovered in Israel.
According to Turkey, the tension in the Eastern Mediterranean is based on the Greek Cypriot administration's unilateral actions that ignore the rights of Island's Turkish population.
The Greek Cypriots unilaterally declared a total of 13 so-called parcels in the Eastern Mediterranean as its EEZ and allowed international oil and drilling companies to operate in these areas, which are anticipated to hold rich hydrocarbon reserves.
However, the majority of these parcels clash with the EEZ declared by the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), with the Greek Cypriot administration ignoring the fundamental rights of the TRNC to a share of the island’s resources.
