British-Greek Company Energean to Join EastMed Pipeline

Energean, the British-Greek company that controls the Israeli Karish and Tanin natural gas fields, will sign a memorandum of understanding Thursday with the Public Gas Corporation of Greece in the first commercial agreement connected with the projected EastMed pipeline.

Greek media reported that the deal to provide Energean gas will be signed shortly before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Greek and Cypriot leaders sign an agreement in Athens on Thursday to develop the pipeline.

This will also be a show of force against Turkey, which has effectively agreed with Libya to divide much of the East Mediterranean.

The Public Gas Corporation is expected to be a partner in developing the EastMed pipeline, which would deliver natural gas from Israeli and Cypriot fields to Europe. The 1,900-kilometer (1,200-mile) undersea pipeline may not prove to be economically feasible, but if it does, it would likely spur more development of Israeli reserves by creating a vast new market.