Cost calculations have shown that Turkey is the most affordable route for the export of Israeli natural gas, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Thursday.
Erdoğan said he was "very, very hopeful" for energy cooperation with Israel, and he will discuss the issue with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.
"If we discuss this subject with Bennett after Ramadan and we take steps immediately, the process will accelerate for Israel-Turkey cooperation, East Mediterranean crude oil and natural gas," the president told reporters on his plane returning from a trip to Uzbekistan.
Turkey and Israel have in recent weeks been working to mend their long-strained ties, and energy has emerged as a potential area of cooperation.
Reports have suggested a natural gas pipeline between Turkey and Israel is being discussed behind the scenes as one of Europe’s alternatives to Russian energy supplies.
The reports come after Turkey and Israel proclaimed a new era in relations when Israeli President Isaac Herzog made a landmark visit to Ankara earlier in March after a yearslong rift.
Separately, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu on Thursday said a possible gas pipeline project between Turkey and Israel will not happen in the short term and building an alternative system to cut Russian dependence will not happen quickly.
First conceived years ago, the idea is to build a subsea pipeline from Turkey to Israel's largest offshore natural gas field, Leviathan. Gas would flow to Turkey and on to Southern European neighbors looking to diversify away from Russia.
Erdoğan last week said that gas cooperation was "one of the most important steps we can take together for bilateral ties" and told reporters he was ready to send top ministers to Israel to revive the pipeline idea that has hung in the air for years.
Speaking to broadcaster A Haber, Çavuşoğlu on Thursday said he would travel to Israel and Palestine with Energy Minister Fatih Dönmez in mid-May to discuss bilateral relations and cooperation opportunities.
Gas supplies from the Mediterranean could ease European dependence on Russian gas, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and subsequent calls from European leaders to reduce the continent’s reliance on Moscow.
Plans for a subsea pipeline that would carry Israeli gas from the Eastern Mediterranean to Europe via the Greek Cyprus administration, Greece and Italy, excluding Turkey, have stalled after the United States expressed misgivings in January.
Turkey has long opposed the project and has stressed that any scheme that aims to sideline the rights of Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) in the Eastern Mediterranean will be unsuccessful.
The EastMed pipeline had enjoyed the support of the former Trump administration in the United States. However, in an apparent U-turn, the Biden administration in January expressed doubts about the project, citing concerns over its economic viability and environmental costs.
The Leviathan field already supplies Israel, Jordan and Egypt. Its owners – Chevron and Israeli firms NewMed Energy and Ratio Oil – plan to crank up production from 12 to 21 billion cubic meters (bcm) a year.
By comparison, the European Union imported 155 bcm of Russian gas last year, covering close to 40% of its consumption.
Much of the extra gas output will be liquified and exported on ships to Europe or the Far East, according to NewMed. Its chief executive said last month Turkey could become a destination too, but needed to commit to building the pipeline.
Turkey consumes about 50 bcm of natural gas a year and imports nearly all of that, most through pipelines from Russia, Iran and Azerbaijan. It is well placed as a transport hub in the region where energy politics can be heated.
