Eastern Mediterranean countries will seek to exploit Libya's internal disputes to further their own causes, ultimately complicating political unification in Libya and potentially triggering more oil blockades in the future. On Nov. 1, Libyan National Oil Corporation (NOC) Chairman Farhat Bengdara told CNBC Asia that his company was studying the feasibility of an underwater natural gas pipeline to Greece to accompany the country's pipeline to Italy. He also said Libya's state-owned oil firm was mulling the possibility of building a natural gas pipeline to the Egyptian city of Damietta, which is home to one of Egypt's two LNG export terminals. Pipelines connecting Libya to Greece or Egypt would not only better integrate North Africa's natural gas sector internally, but increase regional suppliers' access to the European market -- something that has become increasingly attractive as the European Union seeks to diversify its natural gas imports away from Russia. But the...
