Since the discovery of natural gas began in the deepwater basins of the Eastern Mediterranean—off the coasts of Egypt, Cyprus, Lebanon, Israel, and Türkiye—it has generated a great deal of enthusiasm that extends far beyond the littoral states. These states represent the actual owners of these reserves, regardless of any disputes that may arise from the maritime delimitation required to begin exploiting these resources.
European Hopes
The proximity of these gas fields to the European Union has raised high hopes among its member states for the potential diversification of their gas market, which is currently dominated by Russian supplies. This has encouraged the EU to consider constructing an undersea pipeline to transport gas from the Eastern Mediterranean to several European countries.
Furthermore, major international oil and gas companies operating in exploration within the region have found immense, irreplaceable investment opportunities. This is due to the vast, proven gas reserves in the area, which represent a close and secure alternative to Europe’s gas shortages, thereby guaranteeing long-term supply contracts.
Over the past few years, there has been a heavy presence of these companies, such as Italy’s Eni, which accounts for about 40% of Egypt’s gas production and operates the Zohr field—the largest gas field in the Eastern Mediterranean. Similarly, France’s TotalEnergies has sought to expand its footprint in Cypriot offshore blocks, a move mirrored by America’s Chevron in Israeli offshore blocks.
Qatar’s Strategic Motives
Not only that, but major powerhouse nations in the gas sector, such as Qatar, have also sought to compete for investments in the region. Through its state-owned arm, ‘Qatar Energy,’ Doha has endeavored to build alliances with other energy giants. This aims to achieve multiple objectives, such as diversifying its global investment portfolio by capitalizing on the geographical proximity to the high-demand European market.
Despite Qatar possessing massive gas reserves and undergoing colossal expansions in the ‘North Field’, transporting liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Arabian Gulf to Europe requires lengthy maritime routes and high shipping costs. These burdens are further exacerbated by geopolitical disruptions in waterways and straits. Therefore, investing in the Eastern Mediterranean fields grants Qatar a direct production base right on the doorstep of the European market.
This approach represents a practical application of the strategy of not ‘putting all one’s eggs in one basket.’ Consequently, in its pursuit to sustain its leadership as a pivotal player dominating the global gas trade, Doha is actively investing in various offshore basins across Latin America and Africa. Therefore, investing in the Eastern Mediterranean region constitutes yet another link in its ongoing commitment to this strategy.
Within this framework, one can understand the steps taken by Qatar Energy to solidify its investment footprint in the Eastern Mediterranean, specifically through the Egyptian gateway.
An excellent gateway
Egypt dominates the natural gas reserves in the Eastern Mediterranean, holding nearly two-thirds of the region’s proven reserves. However, this is less than half of Algeria’s holdings and accounts for no more than 9% of Qatar’s reserves.
Considering the scarcity of proven reserves held by Türkiye and Lebanon, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) data, and the difficulty of investment cooperation with Israel given current realities—such as the absence of official relations between Doha and Tel Aviv—Qatar’s best possible economic and political options are Egypt and Cyprus. The latter is expected to witness a significant boom in gas production rates over the coming years, driven by recently discovered fields. Naturally, Qatar is anticipated to play a clear role in the Syrian gas sector once the appropriate political and legal conditions are in place.
From Doha’s perspective, Egypt was an excellent gateway not only due to its proven reserves, but also for another reason that is perhaps unavailable to the rest of the littoral states in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Egypt is the only country in the Eastern Mediterranean that possesses the capability to export liquefied natural gas (LNG). Through its two gas export facilities—located in Damietta in the eastern Delta and Idku in the western Delta—Cairo holds a liquefaction capacity of 12.7 million tons per annum. Consequently, Egypt can be considered the gas hub of the Eastern Mediterranean until pipelines are constructed elsewhere or another regional LNG export facility comes online.
In addition to all of this, Cairo has also succeeded in attracting numerous investments from international oil companies (IOCs), which has conveyed a strong impression of its seriousness in translating its resources into compelling potential and investment opportunities.
Qatari major steps
In May 2024, Qatar took its first major steps toward exposure to Egypt’s energy assets. Qatar Energy acquired a 40% stake from ExxonMobil in two offshore exploration blocks—’Cairo’ and ‘Masry’—off the Egyptian coast, while Exxon retains the remaining 60% stake. The US company had secured the exploration rights for the two blocks, which span an area of 11.4 thousand square kilometers, in January 2023.
Qatari ambitions in Egyptian gas did not stop there. In November of the same year, Qatar Energy concluded an agreement with Chevron to acquire an operating stake in the North El Dabaa (H4) concession in the Mediterranean Sea, off the Egyptian coast.
Under the agreement, the Qatari company acquired a 23% stake, while Chevron, the operator of the concession block, retained a 40% stake. The remaining partners in the concession are the Australian company Woodside, with a 27% stake, and the Egyptian state-owned Tharwa Petroleum Company, with a 10% stake.
Less than a year later, specifically in October 2025, the same Qatari company concluded two agreements to strengthen its presence in Egyptian gas fields. The first was with Shell, through which Qatar Energy acquired an estimated 27% stake in the North Cleopatra offshore block, located in the Herodotus frontier basin in the Eastern Mediterranean, spanning an area of over 3,400 square kilometers.
The second agreement was with the Italian company Eni, in which the Qatari company acquired a 40% stake in the North Rafah concession off the Egyptian Mediterranean coast, covering an area of approximately 3,000 square kilometers, while the Italian company retains the remaining 60% stake.
Therefore, within the context of this Qatari approach, it was by no means surprising that the next step would be to boost gas investments in another Eastern Mediterranean country. This move aims to maximize the returns on investments injected into Egyptian fields and leverage Egypt’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) export capabilities.
New Tripartite MoU
Two weeks ago, Qatar Energy signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Egyptian government and ExxonMobil to study the feasibility of commercially developing and utilizing potential gas discoveries in Cyprus, leveraging Egypt’s existing gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) export infrastructure.
According to the statement issued by Qatar Energy, the MoU signed between the three parties allows for the assessment of future growth opportunities and flexible commercial frameworks, in light of Egypt’s regional standing and its gas infrastructure that serves both domestic consumers and global markets alike.
According to the statement, the MoU supports opportunities to achieve deeper integration between Egypt and Cyprus in the natural gas sector, while maximizing the utilization of existing infrastructure.
Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Qatar’s Minister of State for Energy Affairs and the Managing Director and CEO of Qatar Energy, emphasized that the memorandum enables the unlocking of the long-term commercial potential of natural gas resources in that region, to the benefit of all parties.
For his part, Egyptian Minister of Petroleum Karim Badawi stated that the MoU places the Qatari state-owned energy company at the heart of a broader effort aimed at linking Cypriot offshore gas fields to Egyptian export facilities and European buyers.
Egypt-Cyprus Integration
According to an informed Egyptian source, the MoU signed between Egypt, Qatar, and Cyprus is not the first of its kind within this framework.
The source indicated that Egypt has become an essential part of the plans of Cyprus—which lacks any gas liquefaction infrastructure—to capitalize on its gas wealth in the Eastern Mediterranean region.
According to the source, the partners in the Cypriot Aphrodite field signed a 15-year agreement last April, extendable for another 5 years, to sell natural gas to the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS).
According to another source within the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum, the agreement signed months ago served as a foundation for further agreements aimed at exploiting Cyprus’s reserves.
The source added that the MoU signed two weeks ago between Qatar, ExxonMobil, and Egypt represents a practical translation of reality, which dictates that all parties cooperate and integrate for the benefit of the region’s countries and their plans to leverage their economic potential and natural resources.
Viability and Impact
According to many observers, such an MoU would not have materialized had Cyprus’s Block 10 concession not been commercially viable for Qatar Energy and ExxonMobil. This concession includes the ‘Glaucus’ discovery made in 2019, which is estimated to contain around 3.7 trillion cubic feet of gas and is considered one of the most significant offshore discoveries in Cyprus.
A second discovery, ‘Pegasus’, was also logged in the same concession in 2025. Last March, the consortium officially announced that both fields are commercially viable, with combined reserves estimated at around 7 trillion cubic feet.
In addition to the commercial viability of both fields, they are gaining growing importance in Europe, which has been seeking to diversify its gas supplies since the Russian invasion of Ukraine following the disruption of traditional energy flows. Although Cypriot gas is unlikely to shift Europe’s energy balance on its own, it could add a new supply option from the Eastern Mediterranean.
As for Egypt, despite the energy crisis it is currently experiencing, such understandings and agreements reinforce its drive to transform into a regional energy hub by maximizing the utilization of its infrastructure. This achieves genuine integration among various parties, which can be built upon in the future with other countries in the region.
