Energean’s floating production system (FPSO) at the Karish gas field in the Mediterranean Sea. (Energean)
Israel and Lebanon had reached a historic agreement on their maritime border, leaders on each side announced separately on October 11.
The agreement was brokered by the United States, which has been working to resolve the maritime border dispute between the two countries for several years. The disputed maritime area covers 860 square kilometers. It includes the Karish oil and gas field as well as a region known as the Qanaa prospect.
Lebanese President Michel Aoun said in a statement he released just a few hours after receiving Israel’s final offer through U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein, that the agreement fulfills Lebanon’s demands and preserves its rights.
“The final version of the offer is satisfactory to Lebanon and meets its demands and preserved Lebanon’s rights of this natural wealth,” Aoun said, adding that the agreement, which is yet to be signed, will be announced “as soon as possible.”
From his side, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said that the draft agreement meets all the security and economic principles laid out by Israel.
“This is an historic achievement that will strengthen Israel’s security, inject billions into Israel’s economy, and ensure the stability of our northern border,” Lapid said.
Under the agreement, the Qanaa prospect will fall into Israeli and Lebanese waters respectively. Lebanese Energy Minister Walid Fayyad has already revealed the French energy company Total, which owns the contract to explore Lebanese waters, will start working on the Qanaa prospect “immediately” thanks to the agreement.
Once approved by both sides, the agreement will also allow Israel to begin extracting oil and gas from Karish and exporting it to Europe imminently.
The maritime dispute between Israel and Lebanon returned to the spot light last June when the Greek-owned Energean Power FPSO [Floating Production Storage Offloading] reached Karish to extract gas for Israel. Hezbollah, which holds huge influence in Lebanon, warned Israel on multiple occasions against extracting gas from the disputed field before the maritime border are demarcated.
After the announcement of the draft agreement, Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah said that if the president endorsed the deal “then for us… things are settled”.
Nasrallah’s statement eased tensions in Israel and Lebanon, as many in the two countries were worried that a conflict could erupt if Hezbollah decide to ignore the agreement and attempt to disturb Israeli operations at Karish.
The agreement does not mean any “treaty” will be signed between Israel and Lebanon. Officials in Lebanon have already clarified that this maritime agreement is in no way a step toward normalization of relations between the two countries, which are technically at war.
