The mega Zohr gas discovery and the Egyptian government’s willingness to push forward the development could jumpstart stalled projects and give momentum to others in the Eastern Mediterranean region.

At least that is what analysts at the GlobalData research and consulting firm believe based on actions sparked by Eni’s Zohr gas find, the largest discovery made in the Mediterranean Sea offshore Egypt Developers are fast-tracking the supergiant gas field discovered in August, with start-up expected by 2018, and Egyptian officials have agreed to remove any obstacles that may stand between in the way.

Egyptian and Eni officials are also discussing the possibility of creating a regional gas hub, making infrastructure—including transport and export facilities—available for other discoveries nearby. The country, which has become a net gas importer in recent years as domestic consumption increases, already has LNG terminals that are not being fully utilized.

This momentum could provide a boost for other projects in the region, according to a GlobalData report.

“Reduced exploration risk and the potential to share infrastructure could see the eastern Mediterranean blossom into a key development area for international oil companies,” said Matthew Jurecky, GlobalData’s head of oil and gas research and consulting. “With the resource potential more clearly established, above-ground issues, such as political challenges and collaboration between operators, become key.”

Oil and gas production in the Eastern Mediterranean began more than 80 years ago, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration; however, recent large discoveries in the offshore Levant Basin—such as Eni’s Zohr and Noble Energy’s Leviathan and Tamar offshore Israel—have significantly changed the outlook for the region. Yet above-ground issues, including politics, have impacted the pace of development.

But there are reasons for east Mediterranean nations to be optimistic going forward, analysts said.

“In Cyprus, a route to commercialization for the 4 tcf Aphrodite field has yet to be found. A proposed floating liquefied natural gas facility has struggled with commerciality,” Lydia Pearson, GlobalData’s upstream oil and gas analyst, said in a statement, “but leveraging scale and infrastructure with Zohr would boost returns and mitigate risk at both projects.”

The analysis was delivered a day after Noble said it was farming out 35% of its interest in Block 12 offshore Cyprus, where its Aphrodite gas discovery is located, to BG International.

“We are continuing to work with the government of Cyprus to finalize Aphrodite development plans,” said J. Keith Elliott, Noble Energy’s senior vice president of Eastern Mediterranean. “In conjunction with that work, we have recently commenced gas marketing efforts, primarily targeting customers in Egypt, including both domestic purchasers and underutilized liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants.”

The company also announced it was selling its 47% stake in the Alon A and Alon C licenses offshore Israel, which include the Tanin and Karish fields, to the Delek Group for $73 million.

Although the divestment in Israel is being carried out to put to rest anti-trust concerns as part of a recently-approved regulatory framework, the economics for both developments could be better, analysts said.

“GlobalData estimates Tanin and Karish to have poor project economics, hovering around a full-cycle value of negative $1 billion when considered as standalone projects,” Pearson said. “However, if a regional gas hub were developed, these projects would yield much more favorable economics.”

Today’s lower commodity prices don’t help the situation either.

However, assuming a gas price of $5.88 per thousand cubic feet and recoverable reserves of 22 trillion cubic feet (Tcf), GlobalData said Zohr, for example, could have an internal rate of return of 25%. That is based on an initial production rate of 50 million cubic feet per day with about eight wells brought onstream annually until 2026.

The Miocene-age gas reservoir could hold 30 Tcf of gas, according to Eni.

Velda Addison can be reached at vaddison@hartenergy.com.