January 2009 at the height of the Israeli bombing and invasion under
Operation Cast Lead.
The ongoing attack on Gaza which envisages a ground invasion plan is,
from the point of view of Israeli military planners a followup to the
December 2008 invasion attack on Gaza.
Michel Chossudovsky, November 17, 2012.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
War and Natural Gas: The Israeli Invasion and Gaza's Offshore Gas
Fields
by Michel Chossudovsky
January 8, 2012
The [December 2008] military invasion of the Gaza Strip by Israeli
Forces bears a direct relation to the control and ownership of
strategic offshore gas reserves.
This is a war of conquest. Discovered in 2000, there are extensive gas
reserves off the Gaza coastline.
British Gas (BG Group) and its partner, the Athens based Consolidated
Contractors International Company (CCC) owned by Lebanon's Sabbagh and
Koury families, were granted oil and gas exploration rights in a 25
year agreement signed in November 1999 with the Palestinian Authority.
The rights to the offshore gas field are respectively British Gas (60
percent); Consolidated Contractors (CCC) (30 percent); and the
Investment Fund of the Palestinian Authority (10 percent). (Haaretz,
October 21, 2007).
The PA-BG-CCC agreement includes field development and the
construction of a gas pipeline.(Middle East Economic Digest, Jan 5,
2001).
The BG licence covers the entire Gazan offshore marine area, which is
contiguous to several Israeli offshore gas facilities. (See Map
below). It should be noted that 60 percent of the gas reserves along
the Gaza-Israel coastline belong to Palestine.
The BG Group drilled two wells in 2000: Gaza Marine-1 and Gaza
Marine-2. Reserves are estimated by British Gas to be of the order of
1.4 trillion cubic feet, valued at approximately 4 billion dollars.
These are the figures made public by British Gas. The size of
Palestine's gas reserves could be much larger.
Map 1
Map 2
Who Owns the Gas Fields
The issue of sovereignty over Gaza's gas fields is crucial. From a
legal standpoint, the gas reserves belong to Palestine.
The death of Yasser Arafat, the election of the Hamas government and
the ruin of the Palestinian Authority have enabled Israel to establish
de facto control over Gaza's offshore gas reserves.
British Gas (BG Group) has been dealing with the Tel Aviv government.
In turn, the Hamas government has been bypassed in regards to
exploration and development rights over the gas fields.
The election of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in 2001 was a major
turning point. Palestine's sovereignty over the offshore gas fields
was challenged in the Israeli Supreme Court. Sharon stated
unequivocally that "Israel would never buy gas from Palestine"
intimating that Gaza's offshore gas reserves belong to Israel.
In 2003, Ariel Sharon, vetoed an initial deal, which would allow
British Gas to supply Israel with natural gas from Gaza's offshore
wells. (The Independent, August 19, 2003)
The election victory of Hamas in 2006 was conducive to the demise of
the Palestinian Authority, which became confined to the West Bank,
under the proxy regime of Mahmoud Abbas.
In 2006, British Gas "was close to signing a deal to pump the gas to
Egypt." (Times, May, 23, 2007). According to reports, British Prime
Minister Tony Blair intervened on behalf of Israel with a view to
shunting the agreement with Egypt.
The following year, in May 2007, the Israeli Cabinet approved a
proposal by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert "to buy gas from the
Palestinian Authority." The proposed contract was for $4 billion, with
profits of the order of $2 billion of which one billion was to go the
Palestinians.
Tel Aviv, however, had no intention on sharing the revenues with
Palestine. An Israeli team of negotiators was set up by the Israeli
Cabinet to thrash out a deal with the BG Group, bypassing both the
Hamas government and the Palestinian Authority:
"Israeli defence authorities want the Palestinians to be paid in goods
and services and insist that no money go to the Hamas-controlled
Government." (Ibid, emphasis added)
The objective was essentially to nullify the contract signed in 1999
between the BG Group and the Palestinian Authority under Yasser
Arafat.
Under the proposed 2007 agreement with BG, Palestinian gas from Gaza's
offshore wells was to be channeled by an undersea pipeline to the
Israeli seaport of Ashkelon, thereby transferring control over the
sale of the natural gas to Israel.
The deal fell through. The negotiations were suspended:
"Mossad Chief Meir Dagan opposed the transaction on security grounds,
that the proceeds would fund terror". (Member of Knesset Gilad Erdan,
Address to the Knesset on "The Intention of Deputy Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert to Purchase Gas from the Palestinians When Payment Will Serve
Hamas," March 1, 2006, quoted in Lt. Gen. (ret.) Moshe Yaalon, Does
the Prospective Purchase of British Gas from Gaza's Coastal Waters
Threaten Israel's National Security? Jerusalem Center for Public
Affairs, October 2007)
Israel's intent was to foreclose the possibility that royalties be
paid to the Palestinians. In December 2007, The BG Group withdrew from
the negotiations with Israel and in January 2008 they closed their
office in Israel.(BG website).
Invasion Plan on The Drawing Board
The invasion plan of the Gaza Strip under "Operation Cast Lead" was
set in motion in June 2008, according to Israeli military sources:
"Sources in the defense establishment said Defense Minister Ehud Barak
instructed the Israel Defense Forces to prepare for the operation over
six months ago [June or before June] , even as Israel was beginning to
negotiate a ceasefire agreement with Hamas."(Barak Ravid, Operation
"Cast Lead": Israeli Air Force strike followed months of planning,
Haaretz, December 27, 2008)
That very same month, the Israeli authorities contacted British Gas,
with a view to resuming crucial negotiations pertaining to the
purchase of Gaza's natural gas:
"Both Ministry of Finance director general Yarom Ariav and Ministry of
National Infrastructures director general Hezi Kugler agreed to inform
BG of Israel's wish to renew the talks.
The sources added that BG has not yet officially responded to Israel's
request, but that company executives would probably come to Israel in
a few weeks to hold talks with government officials." (Globes online-
Israel's Business Arena, June 23, 2008)
The decision to speed up negotiations with British Gas (BG Group)
coincided, chronologically, with the planning of the invasion of Gaza
initiated in June. It would appear that Israel was anxious to reach an
agreement with the BG Group prior to the invasion, which was already
in an advanced planning stage.
Moreover, these negotiations with British Gas were conducted by the
Ehud Olmert government with the knowledge that a military invasion was
on the drawing board. In all likelihood, a new "post war" political-
territorial arrangement for the Gaza strip was also being contemplated
by the Israeli government.
In fact, negotiations between British Gas and Israeli officials were
ongoing in October 2008, 2-3 months prior to the commencement of the
bombings on December 27th.
In November 2008, the Israeli Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of
National Infrastructures instructed Israel Electric Corporation (IEC)
to enter into negotiations with British Gas, on the purchase of
natural gas from the BG's offshore concession in Gaza. (Globes,
November 13, 2008)
"Ministry of Finance director general Yarom Ariav and Ministry of
National Infrastructures director general Hezi Kugler wrote to IEC CEO
Amos Lasker recently, informing him of the government's decision to
allow negotiations to go forward, in line with the framework proposal
it approved earlier this year.
The IEC board, headed by chairman Moti Friedman, approved the
principles of the framework proposal a few weeks ago. The talks with
BG Group will begin once the board approves the exemption from a
tender." (Globes Nov. 13, 2008)
Gaza and Energy Geopolitics
The military occupation of Gaza is intent upon transferring the
sovereignty of the gas fields to Israel in violation of international
law.
What can we expect in the wake of the invasion?
What is the intent of Israel with regard to Palestine's Natural Gas
reserves?
A new territorial arrangement, with the stationing of Israeli and/or
"peacekeeping" troops?
The militarization of the entire Gaza coastline, which is strategic
for Israel?
The outright confiscation of Palestinian gas fields and the unilateral
declaration of Israeli sovereignty over Gaza's maritime areas?
If this were to occur, the Gaza gas fields would be integrated into
Israel's offshore installations, which are contiguous to those of the
Gaza Strip. (See Map 1 above).
These various offshore installations are also linked up to Israel's
energy transport corridor, extending from the port of Eilat, which is
an oil pipeline terminal, on the Red Sea to the seaport – pipeline
terminal at Ashkelon, and northwards to Haifa, and eventually linking
up through a proposed Israeli-Turkish pipeline with the Turkish port
of Ceyhan.
Ceyhan is the terminal of the Baku, Tblisi Ceyhan Trans Caspian
pipeline. "What is envisaged is to link the BTC pipeline to the Trans-
Israel Eilat-Ashkelon pipeline, also known as Israel's Tipline." (See
Michel Chossudovsky, The War on Lebanon and the Battle for Oil, Global
Research, July 23, 2006)
http://www.globalresearch.ca/war-and-natural-gas-the-israeli-invasion-and-gaza-s-offshore-gas-fields/11680
--
Karibu Jukwaa la www.mwanabidii.com
Pata nafasi mpya za Kazi www.kazibongo.blogspot.com
Blogu ya Habari na Picha www.patahabari.blogspot.com
Kujiondoa Tuma Email kwenda
wanabidii+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com Utapata Email ya kudhibitisha ukishatuma
Disclaimer:
Everyone posting to this Forum bears the sole responsibility for any legal consequences of his or her postings, and hence statements and facts must be presented responsibly. Your continued membership signifies that you agree to this disclaimer and pledge to abide by our Rules and Guidelines.
0 Comments