An agreement over the demarcation of a maritime border between Israel and Lebanon is growing closer, according to a report broadcast Sunday by the Saudi Al Arabiya news network.
According to the report, which quoted an anonymous source, Lebanon will win the Qana offshore gas field, but will pay Israel for the extraction of the energy resource.
The Greek-French Energean Oil & Gas PLC will be responsible for the operation of the Qana field, the sources said. Energean already is responsible for the extraction of gas from the Karish field, which is set to begin next month.
The offshore Karish gas field, which appears to overlap from Israeli to Lebanese territory, will remain under full Israeli control, the report said.
US energy envoy Amos Hochstein held a virtual meeting last Thursday with the Israeli negotiating team, according to a report by Lebanon’s Naharnet news outlet.
Hochstein is expected to return to Beirut later this week to continue the talks, Reuters reported. If successful, those talks will end a dispute that has lasted more than ten years.
