Will the Eastern Mediterranean become the next Persian Gulf? (July 25, 2013)

American Enterprise Institute ^ | July 25, 2013 | Niklas Anzinger

[haffast]

For more than two decades, the United States has placed the issue of Eastern Mediterranean maritime ­security on the backburner. But the 2010 discovery of what may potentially be 3,450 billion cubic meters of natural gas and 1.7 billion barrels of oil in the Eastern Mediterranean’s Levant Basin brings that region’s security to the forefront. Turkey and Cyprus have competing interests in tapping the newfound oil and gas and in defending their access to those resources, while Israel and Lebanon continue to dispute their shared maritime boundary and territorial waters. Against this backdrop, political tensions are escalating in Egypt, Moscow seeks to expand its influence in Syria, and Iran continues to facilitate terrorist activities through its aides in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon. Current US force posture in the Persian Gulf reflects the type of investment that may become necessary in the Eastern Mediterranean as conflicts loom: establishing cooperative security sites with favorable geographic locations, building on-call operating facilities, and establishing pre-agreements with the host nations that permit the US military to utilize the sites.

Key points in this Outlook:

+ The United States has long taken Eastern Mediterranean maritime security for granted, but the 2010 discovery of vast oil and gas deposits in the region’s Levant Basin is eliciting competition over exclusive economic zones among countries such as Israel, Cyprus, Turkey, and Lebanon.

+ The naval activities of Iranian-backed terrorist groups, Russia’s quest to expand its international influence, Turkey’s over- confident posture, and political unrest in Syria and Egypt have collectively exacerbated tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean.

+ As Eastern Mediterranean security becomes increasingly important, the United States must bolster its force posture in the region by establishing new cooperative security sites and by helping develop a regional defense partnership.

snip

[haffast]

Weapon of mass destruction?

Is the Pentagon Prepared for East Med Gas? (References above article)
27 August 2013 - Cyprus Gas News

"More good news out of the Eastern Mediterranean, as even more gas has been discovered in the Levant Basin between Israel and Cyprus. The last decade has seen new gas and oil fields discovered around the world, but the Levant Basin is special: It is close enough to major markets in Europe to make it easy both to produce and distribute. Eastern Mediterranean gas can bypass Russia, Iran, and Turkey—all sources of regional instability—and also need not transit choke points such as the Strait of Hormuz, the Bab al-Mandab, or the Suez Canal to get to market."

"As Eastern Mediterranean gas development continues, and the region becomes increasing strategically important, it behooves the United States to plan ahead to ensure the safety not only of American personnel working in the region, but also of the energy infrastructure. To do so would not simply be to spend American resources to defend the flow of oil and gas to China, as the United States effectively does in the Persian Gulf, but rather to protect an energy corridor which undercuts and diminishes the leverage and income of American adversaries."
http://www.cyprusgasnews.com/archives/3234

[BenLurkin]

Too close to the Russian Black Sea Fleet for comfort.

[svcw]

bla bla bla........the place is made of sand - phuqing make glass......stop dickering around.....end it.

[Nuc 1.1]

Guess we are not running out of energy. Too bad for the greenies.

[chulaivn66]

Too bad for us increasing numbers of “greenies”, as you call them, are holding regulatory veto pens on our continued use of those resources. Taxes by way of carbon credits, etc.? This will not end well.

[Nuc 1.1]

No it will not end well. But the fools that support the greenies will suffer most.