Hot water around industrial plant in coastal Israeli city draws schools of sharks, also tourists

France's president says his country fully backs Cyprus' sovereign right to search for gas off the island nation's coast amid continued opposition by neighboring Turkey

Saudi Arabia says nearly 40 agreements worth $53 billion were signed at the second major investment conference held in the kingdom since the killing of writer Jamal Khashoggi sparked an international outcry

Israel's Delek Drilling and its U.S. partner, Noble Energy, say the foundation of their rig for the Leviathan gas field has arrived

The state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. says it has signed agreements worth $5.8 billion with Italy's Eni and Austria's OMV for a share in the firm's refining unit and for the creation of a new trading venture

Turkey's foreign minister says his country will begin a search for natural gas in waters off neighboring Cyprus after it takes possession of a second drillship next month

Iraqi parliament approves 2019 budget of $112 billion after much wrangling over apportion of revenue

Discovery of natural gas fields off Mediterranean coast gives Israel geopolitical boost with neighbors

Iraq's new prime minister, Adel Abdul-Mahdi, has visited Basra, a city that saw riots last summer over acute water pollution and crippling power outages

Cyprus' foreign minister says the U.S. will soon start lifting a decades-old arms embargo on the eastern Mediterranean island because Washington acknowledges its contribution to bolstering stability and security in the region