East Med pipeline: maybe someday
Studies on the possible route may be under way, but if the project materialises at all, it is unlikely to be on an ambitious schedule
Israel’s ratification of an agreement struck earlier in the year to build the Eastern Mediterranean Gas (East Med) pipeline, designed to ship Israeli and Cypriot gas to Greece and on to Western Europe by the middle of the decade, coincided almost simultaneously with Chevron’s $5bn deal for Noble Energy, one of the region’s leading operators. Unsurprisingly, both stoked renewed optimism around the project. But many experts caution against premature enthusiasm for the 10bn m³/yr link—1,300km of the total 1,900km of which would be offshore, making it among the longest undersea gas links in the world, and that does not include a further more than 200km subsea connection from Greece to Italy. Be
Also in this section
13 April 2026
Turkmenistan is moving ahead with a modest expansion of the giant Galkynysh field to sustain gas deliveries abroad, but persistent delays to other key pipeline projects and geopolitical risks continue to constrain its export ambitions
13 April 2026
Expensive electricity has forced out swathes of energy-intensive industry and now threatens the country’s ability to attract future investment in datacentres and the digital economy
13 April 2026
For GCC producers, the ceasefire may prove more destabilising than the war itself: exports remain constrained, and control over Hormuz has shifted in ways that could endure
9 April 2026
The April 2026 issue of Petroleum Economist is out now!
