Greek Cypriot talks on buying liquefied natural gas from Gazprom have added to tension with Turkey over their search for offshore oil and gas in contested areas of the Mediterranean.

The Nicosia government is preparing to build Cyprus’s first LNG terminal in order to reduce reliance on imported oil products. At a later date, Cyprus, which began discussions with Russia’s Gazprom natural gas monopoly this week, plans to start trading gas with neighbouring countries.