Netanyahu to talk energy, security in Cyprus visit

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in Cyprus on Thursday to discuss energy cooperation, a subject that has already irritated Israel's former ally Turkey, which challenges Cyprus's jurisdiction over offshore gas finds.
Gas production in the eastern Mediterranean is set to soar following the discovery of huge offshore reserves between Cyprus, Israel and Lebanon that have sparked competing maritime claims from Turkey.
Natural gas reserves have been found beneath the seabed between the two countries. In December, Texas-based Noble Energy, which is working with both Cyprus and Israel, reported an offshore gas prospect of between 5 and 8 trillion cubic feet (tcf) in a Cypriot field. A year earlier, it discovered twice as big reserves in the Israeli Leviathan field.
Turkey says Cyprus has no jurisdiction over the finds and is provoking with military and naval exercices in the area and that it will carry out its own exploration off northern Cyprus with the Turkish Cypriot authorities, a territory it has occupied since 1974.
Noble is working with Israel's Delek Energy to develop two fields in Israeli waters – Tamar, with reserves estimated at 9.1 tcf, and Leviathan, which is nearly twice as big.
Netanyahu's talks with Cypriot President Demetris Christofias will focus on cooperation in the natural gas sector and further steps to increase energy security in the two countries, Israeli officials said.
News reports suggest that netanyahu also wants to bases a small air force unit at the island Paphos airport on the south western coast, in order to ensure the security of its own natural gas assets. Cyprus-based DEH Quantum is also planning to build a 540 nautical mile subsea cable that will have the capacity to carry up to 2,000 MW of electrical energy from Israel to western Europe, once Israel and Cyprus start gas production and enjoy an output surplus at their respective power stations.