The Eastern Mediterranean is never dull. The whole area – land and sea – has been contested for centuries. And now, it turns out to have natural resources. Over the last decade, the area known as the Levant Basin has been identified as one of the world’s more interesting areas for exploration.
The first gas finds off the Israeli coast have led to a reappraisal not just of other areas along the coast from Egypt in the South to Turkey in the North, but also of the coastlines around the whole of the Mediterranean – from Albania to Spain. And the entry of Exxon and Rosneft into Lebanon opens up the prospect of another new exploration area and may provide a key to the development of the Eastern Mediterranean as a whole. Read more