The dispute followed remarks made by Turkey's foreign minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, rejecting a 2003 Cypriot-Egyptian maritime border demarcation deal and announcing the Turkish government's intention to carry out gas exploration in the region.
Tensions in the region further escalated on February 9, when the Turkish Navy blocked a drill ship operated by Italian oil company Eni S.p.A., licensed by the government of the Republic of Cyprus, from exploring gas reserves off the island.
In November 2018, the partnership of the Cypriot government and US company ExxonMobil successfully began carrying out hydrocarbon exploration, escorted by US Navy ships, with Turkey remaining passive.
Other initiatives include a pipeline to Egypt's decommissioned liquefaction plants and shipping the produced liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Egyptian terminals to foreign markets.
The dispute followed remarks made by Turkey's foreign minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, rejecting a 2003 Cypriot-Egyptian maritime border demarcation deal and announcing the Turkish government's intention to carry out gas exploration in the region.
[13][14] Tensions in the region further escalated on February 9, when the Turkish Navy blocked a drill ship operated by Italian oil company Eni S.p.A., licensed by the government of the Republic of Cyprus, from exploring gas reserves off the island.
[18] On November 16, the partnership of the Cypriot government and US company ExxonMobil successfully began carrying out hydrocarbon exploration, escorted by US Navy ships, with Turkey remaining passive.