Athens- The Lebanese foreign minister told Al Mayadeen TV on Friday that the Greek foreign ministry summoned the Lebanese chargé d’affaires in Athens.
The Greek foreign ministry informed the Lebanese chargé d’affaires that the extraction vessel in the Mediterranean is not owned by the Greek government.
The ministry is referring to the floating production and storage and offloading vessel of Energean that arrived at the disputed Karish offshore field last week
Lebanon criticized the move, though Israel says the FPSO is outside of a disputed border area.
Israel’s navy is preparing for possible attacks on the vessel from Hezbollah, Israeli public broadcaster Kan News reported last week .
Israel and Lebanon have held a series of US-brokered talks in recent years to try and resolve the dispute. The negotiations are complicated by the fact Lebanon doesn’t officially recognize Israel.
London-listed Energean Plc, set to operate Karish, has said gas should start flowing by the third quarter. The field will complement Israeli production from the nearby deposits of Leviathan and Tamar.
Israel is negotiating a three-way agreement with the European Union and Egypt to boost gas exports to Europe in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The plan is for Israel to increase supplies to Egypt through existing pipelines, and for the gas to then be shipped in liquefied form to Europe.
(Reuters)/YL
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