Lebanese daily "As-Safir" today accused Israel of stealing Lebanon's natural gas. The accusation follows last week's publication of the seismic surveys of the Leviathan structure and its huge potential reserves. Lebanese parliamentarians made similar accusations following the discovery of the Tamar and Dalit gas reserves in 2009.
"As-Safir" correspondent Halami Mussa wrote, "Israel plans to steal natural gas from the territorial waters of Lebanon." He claims that "the reserves are located outside the territorial waters of Israel and are in Lebanese territory."
Mussa details the natural gas reserves estimates by Noble Energy Inc. (NYSE: NBL) for Tamar and Leviathan. He said that the issue was not about a new natural gas discovery, but "a serious political and economic issue", which could be cause for a diplomatic dispute between Israel and Lebanon.
Mussa said, "The area where the seismic survey was carried out is offshore from the coast of Lebanon, between the international border of Palestine and Cyprus." He utterly ignores the presence of Israel, but says, "Israel, which received the mandate from Britain, which has no rights to Palestine, gave to some of the license to American companies without any right to do so."
The Ministry of National Infrastructures Map of Petroleum Rights shows that the Tamar license, as well the licenses that make up the Leviathan structure are located west and northwest of Haifa, south of the Israel-Lebanese border.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on June 8, 2010
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