Interview: Opportunity knocks in the East Med

Rony Halman, chairman of Israel Opportunity Energy Resources, explains why the region could be on the verge of something big—but some points of contention remain

These are busy days in the East Med. Egypt has just received its last cargo of imported liquefied natural gas, and now Israel is poised to move forward on a plant to send pipeline gas to its neighbour, after Egyptian and Israeli companies agreed in early October to buy a stake in the Egypt-Israel gas pipeline. Cyprus in mid-September took a bold step towards gas exporter status with the striking of a pipeline deal with Egypt. This will initially send gas from the offshore Aphrodite field, discovered in 2011, to be liquefied at the Damietta and Idku plants. Meanwhile, production is due to start in 2019-20 from Israel's giant Leviathan gasfield. All in all, it makes for an active hydrocarbons