Special to WorldTribune.com

ANKARA — Regional rivalries have threatened energy projects in
the Mediterranean Sea.

The International Energy Agency warned that challenges by Lebanon and
Turkey threaten major energy projects by Israel and the Republic of Cyprus.

The Paris-based organization said the emerging conflict over reserves could stop the exploration of an estimated 10 trillion cubic meters of gas in the eastern Mediterranean.

“The biggest problem in the eastern Mediterranean is not the existence of reserves, it is the potential that politics may supersede the economy,” IAE chief economist Fatih Birol said.

“If this settles down, I believe eastern Mediterranean gas will raise the prosperity of regional countries and could become an important alternative to Russian gas.”

In an interview with the Turkish daily Hurriyet, Birol said Turkey could
serve as a hub for gas exports to Europe. But he said he did not envision
Ankara or Beirut shelving demands for gas reserves developed by Cyprus
and Israel.

  10 trillion cubic meters of gas, Fatih Birol, International Energy Agency, Lebanon seen challenging energy exploration in E. Mediterranean, Turkey