ExxonMobil

Beyond the antagonistic statements of Turkish government official on issues of sovereignty, former military officers and former officials are now claiming that five Greek islands belong to Turkey.

The claims are directly related to the delineation of the Exclusive Economic Zones of countries in the wider region.

Defence Minister Evangelos Apostolakis, the former Chairman of Greece's Joint Chiefs of Staff, has welcomed the Eastern Mediterranean Security and Energy Partnership Act of 2019 as a move that confirms and upgrades Greece's strategic role in the broader region.

Prime Minister Viorica Dancila attended on Saturday, within the visit that she is paying to Washington, D.C., a working lunch together with representatives of the US companies which have investments in Romania and, on this occasion, she reconfirmed our country's desire to strengthen the economic dimension of the Strategic Partnership with the US.

Greece is at the center of regional efforts to secure alternative energy routes to supply Europe, according to US Ambassador to Greece Geoffrey Pyatt.

A three-way summit between Cyprus, Greece, and Israel with the participation of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sent a strong message to Ankara regarding energy security and its hostile behaviour in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Last Thursday's announcement in Nicosia that a sizable gas deposit was discovered by US energy giant ExxonMobil in plot 10 of Cyprus's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) is expected to have far-reaching commercial and geostrategic consequences for the island itself and the wider Mediterranean.

The speed at which Cyprus makes its next moves in the wake of Thursday's announcement by ExxonMobil that a large gas deposit was discovered in Block 10 of its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) is seen as a determining factor in the island's energy development and future drillings there by the US energy giant.

"Greece has clearly emerged as a key European hub for energy diversification," US Ambassador to Athens Geoffrey Pyatt said in an interview with the Athens-Macedonian News Agency on the sidelines of the Delphi Economic Forum on Saturday.

A day after ExxonMobil announced a significant natural gas deposit discovery off Cyprus, the ethnically split country's parliament approved the establishment of an investment fund for any future hydrocarbon proceeds.

The announcement on Thursday that US energy giant ExxonMobil has made a "world-class" discovery in Block 10 of Cyprus's exclusive economic zone (EEZ), containing 5-8 trillion cubic feet of gas, was widely seen as signifying that the energy game in the Eastern Mediterranean has only just begun and the main players' next moves will determine their future geopolitical position in the wider region.