The eastern Mediterranean sea has several large natural gas deposits. The fields could be worth billions of dollars.

Lebanon and Israel have been involved in a maritime dispute regarding the exact location of their sea borders. The contested area is important to both countries because it might harbour natural-gas fields.

Israel has one of the largest gas fields in the region, the Leviathan field. Parts of that field could potentially extend into territory claimed by both Israel and Lebanon. This gas deposit is so big, it could potentially lead to Israel becoming an energy exporter.

Meanwhile, Egypt has what has been called a "supergiant gas field" within its waters, the Zohr gas field.

Still, Egypt might face a gas-energy crisis despite being one of the largest gas-producing countries in Africa, as an investigation by Al Jazeera showed.