Cyprus appears headed for a showdown with Turkey over Nicosia's plans to begin oil and gas exploration in the east Mediterranean. Nathan Morley reports for VOA from Nicosia that Cyprus wants to issue exploration permits for 60,000 square kilometers of seabed near the island later this year.According to the Greek-led government of Cyprus, in Nicosia, early data indicates there are oil and gas deposits in a sea area separating the island from Egypt to its south and Lebanon to its east. The government proposes opening 11 areas for exploration, and it launched a bidding process in February for exploration rights to the area. Bids have to be filed by August 16, with permits being issued by the end of this year.Cyprus Foreign Minister Kozakou Marcoullis says there is interest from international companies in her government's tender."We would be very glad even if we had four or five or six interested companies, this is just the beginning," Marcoullis said. "Defiantly there is oil, otherwise we would not have gone through this whole procedure. I think this is why there is already a lot of interest from a number of countries and companies that will be participating with this tender."But tensions in the region could intensify if the government of the divided island proceeds with plans to drill. Breakway Turkish Cypriots in northern Cyprus have strongly objected to the move and say that any natural reserves discovered belong to both sides...
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Cyprus appears headed for a showdown with Turkey over Nicosia's plans to begin oil and gas exploration in the east Mediterranean. Nathan Morley reports for VOA from Nicosia that Cyprus wants to issue exploration permits for 60,000 square kilometers of seabed near the island later this year.According to the Greek-led government of Cyprus, in Nicosia, early data indicates there are oil and gas deposits in a sea area separating the island from Egypt to its south and Lebanon to its east. The government proposes opening 11 areas for exploration, and it launched a bidding process in February for exploration rights to the area. Bids have to be filed by August 16, with permits being issued by the end of this year.Cyprus Foreign Minister Kozakou Marcoullis says there is interest from international companies in her government's tender."We would be very glad even if we had four or five or six interested companies, this is just the beginning," Marcoullis said. "Defiantly there is oil, otherwise we would not have gone through this whole procedure. I think this is why there is already a lot of interest from a number of countries and companies that will be participating with this tender."But tensions in the region could intensify if the government of the divided island proceeds with plans to drill. Breakway Turkish Cypriots in northern Cyprus have strongly objected to the move and say that any natural reserves discovered belong to both sides...
