Israeli Gas Installation Reignites Lebanon Maritime Border Dispute

Post created on 11:32 am

A floating production, storage and offloading unit belonging the company Energean on the Suez Canal, June 2, 2022. (© Suez Canal Authority/ AFP)

An Israeli floating gas production unit arrived in the maritime zone disputed between Israel and Lebanon on Sunday – prompting the anger of the Lebanese government, especially as negotiations between the two countries on this dispute are at a standstill.

Suspended for more than a decade, the dispute between Israel and Lebanon over the two countries’ maritime borders resurfaced on June 5. The Lebanese presidency warned the Israeli government against any “aggressive actions” in the disputed maritime area.

After a floating production, storage and offloading unit belonging to the company Energean (listed in both Tel Aviv and London) arrived on Sunday, the problem was obvious: Israel and Lebanon have never drawn their borders. The Karish gas field where Israel is exploring is located in a disputed area of 860 km2 in the middle of the eastern Mediterranean where huge gas reserves have been found in recent years.

The Lebanese government even invited the US envoy Amos Hochstein – charged by President Joe Biden with mediating between the two countries – asking him to help restart talks with Israel over the issue.

Any exploration, drilling or extraction work Israel carries out in the disputed areas would constitute a “provocation and act of aggression”, said a joint statement by Lebanese President Michel Aoun and outgoing Prime Minister Najib Mikati.

However, the Israeli government sees the Karish gas field as part of its exclusive economic zone and therefore believes that it’s not relevant to its maritime dispute.

Custom-built for the Karish field, the platform is expected to deliver gas to Israel later this year, according to Energean.