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
1 April 2026
Golden Pass’s startup offers QatarEnergy a timely boost but may also force a difficult choice between honouring disrupted contracts and capitalising on soaring spot LNG prices
1 April 2026
It is not a case of if or when, but the length and magnitude of economic damage from elevated oil prices
1 April 2026
The US-Iran conflict demonstrates the need for diversification in several senses of the word. It also exposes the limits of Washington applying pressure on major oil and gas producers it considers geopolitical adversaries
31 March 2026
Disappointing results in its bidding round are a reality check for Libya, and global exploration generally
