EastMed Natural Gas Pipeline Deserving Of US Support

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EastMed Natural Gas Pipeline Deserving Of US Support

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Sign outside of the Department of State in Washington, DC (© Shutterstock/Mark Van Scyoc)
Sign outside of the Department of State in Washington, DC (© Shutterstock/Mark Van Scyoc)

At the beginning of this month the United States withdrew its support for the EastMed gas pipeline, a major developmental pipeline project that would have connected significant gas deposits in the territorial waters of Cyprus, Egypt and Israel to markets in Europe. Ultimately the EastMed would have integrated these countries electricity grids with those of Europe.

According to Henri J. Barkey, Cohen Professor of International Relations at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and an adjunct senior fellow for Middle East Studies at the Council of Foreign Relations, the pipeline, which would have cost an estimated $6-7 billion, was seen by many as an unrealistic project given the potential changes in European energy consumption patterns, its sheer complexity and cost, and the financing needs.  Some pundits said that it would not get off the ground, much less be completed by 2025 as projected.

The US State Department withdrew support for the project through the delivery of a non-paper – an informal manner of expressing a government’s preferences or requirement without direct attribution. Presumably the content could have been delivered orally except that Washington may have tried to avoid a situation where its message was diluted.

So if the project did not fit the future European green energy plans, presumably this too was a European decision. After all, both Greece and Cyprus are members of the European Union. But as it stands now, this announcement to withdraw support will be perceived as an attempt by Washington at strong-arming the parties.

Barkey raises a key question:  If President Vladimir Putin were to attack Ukraine, it appears that the recently completed Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline to Germany would be the first target of retaliation. Even if the EastMed pipeline was unrealistic, would it not have been more astute to let Putin think that Europe has other options?  In other words, why withdraw support from a project that can help diversity European sources of natural gas and lessen dependency on Russia?

Nonetheless, Barkey argues that the gas in the region will find outlets in the region. Surprisingly, Israel recently agreed for some of its gas to be shipped to Lebanon through a circuitous route, but more importantly Egypt has been ramping up its liquified natural gas (LNG) capabilities. This will allow Cairo to export its own gas as well as that of its neighbors to a more diverse and flexible market.

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