Time for the Levant's moment in the sun?
Politics have thwarted the region’s offshore promise so far, but the Zohr discovery has revived momentum
THE Levant Basin, stretching across most of the East Mediterranean from Egypt in the south to Turkey in the north, is hardly a new play. In 2010 the US Geological Survey said it could hold technically recoverable resources of 122 trillion cubic feet of gas and 1.7bn barrels of oil. Israel made the early running, when US firm Noble Energy found a string of world-class gas deposits. Then politics intervened, stopping Israel from launching a liquefied natural gas business. But the frontier basin is getting another shot at the big time. Gas finds off Egypt and Israel are persuading explorers to look at it more seriously – at least as soon as their capex budgets bulk up again. In Egypt, the sc
Also in this section
5 December 2025
Mistaken assumptions around an oil bull run that never happened are a warning over the talk of a supply glut
4 December 2025
Time is running out for Lukoil and Rosneft to divest international assets that will be mostly rendered useless to them when the US sanctions deadline arrives in mid-December
3 December 2025
Aramco’s pursuit of $30b in US gas partnerships marks a strategic pivot. The US gains capital and certainty; Saudi Arabia gains access, flexibility and a new export future
2 December 2025
The interplay between OPEC+, China and the US will define oil markets throughout 2026
