Karish North field is situated adjacent to the Karish Main field. Credit: Gov.il
On October 9, the London-listed firm Energean began testing pipes between Israel and the Karish naval gas field, the focal point of the maritime dispute with Lebanon.
“Following approval received from the Israeli Ministry of Energy to start certain testing procedures, the flow of gas from onshore to the FPSO [Floating Production Storage Offloading] has commenced,” the firm said in a statement.
Israel has maintained that Karish falls entirely within its territory, while Lebanon has made claims to parts of the gas field. Currently, Karish is the focal point of the U.S.-mediated maritime border talks between the two countries.
In its statement, Energean said that the tests, which will go on for a number of weeks, were “an important step” towards extracting gas from the Karish.
Israel decided to begin tests at Karish a few days after rejecting Lebanon’s amendment to a draft agreement that aims to settle competing claims over the gas field. The draft agreement was presented by U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein.
Hezbollah, which holds huge influence in Lebanon, warned Israel on multiple occasions over the last few months against extracting gas from the disputed field before the maritime border are demarcated. The head of the group’s Executive Council renewed these warnings just two days before Energean began its tests at Karish.
The group has already demonstrated its will to secure Lebanon’s claimed rights in Karish by harassing Israeli naval forces and companies operating there with unarmed drones.
The ongoing tests are a key step towards the start of gas production from Karish. Israel’s decision to begin the tests could jeopardize the U.S.-mediate talks, or even provoke a response from Hezbollah. A response that could spark a full-blown military conflict.
