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Will Offshore Gas Spark New Lebanon-Israel Conflict?

As exploration and exploitation of offshore gas fields in Lebanese waters has yet to get going, concerns have been raised that bordering Israeli fields could serve as a pretext for Israel to steal Lebanese gas.
Caretaker Energy Minister Gebran Bassil points at a map during a tour of areas believed to have gas reserves, off Lebanon's coast near Beirut May 30, 2013.  Offshore seismic surveys suggest Lebanon has at least 30 trillion cubic feet in just a small fraction of its Mediterranean waters Bassil said. Lebanon has selected 46 international oil companies to bid to explore for gas off its coast, where survey ships have been assessing prospects after discoveries in waters off neighbouring Israel and Cyprus. Pictur
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On July 5, acting Lebanese Energy Minister Gebran Bassil announced that for the first time ever, Israel could, intentionally or as a result of its legitimate gas extraction operations in the Mediterranean Sea, steal Lebanon’s share of this commodity. Three days later, Bassil visited the Lebanese president, the acting prime minister and the speaker of parliament to ask that they quickly hold two extraordinary cabinet and parliament sessions in order to pass the remaining laws needed for Lebanon to begin awarding international companies exploration rights in Lebanon’s economic zone in the Mediterranean. This is the only way for Lebanon to safeguard its offshore resources and prevent them from being appropriated by others.

An official source at the Lebanese Ministry of Energy explained to Al-Monitor that the problem raised by the minister was not an issue of concern until recently because Israel had so far limited its gas exploration and extraction activities to the Leviathan-1, Dalit-1, Tamar and Tanin-1 fields, which all are relatively far from Lebanon’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

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