• An oil company has been granted permission by Israel to begin operations at Karish.
• Karish is an offshore field that is the centerpiece of a maritime border agreement with Lebanon.
• Energean, a company located in London, has been given the license to start producing natural gas.

An oil company has been granted permission by Israel to begin operations at Karish, an offshore field that is the centerpiece of a maritime border agreement with Lebanon that is anticipated to be inked soon.

According to a statement released on Tuesday by the energy ministry, Energean, a company located in London, has been given “the license to start producing natural gas from Karish.”

Although Energean has not provided a specific date, it has stated that its floating production, storage, and offloading vessel is expected to begin operations at Karish in the third quarter.

Earlier this month, Israel and Lebanon reached an agreement to establish the first maritime border and a framework for joint offshore gas field exploration.

The last active fight between the two neighbors occurred in 2006, despite the fact that they have theoretically been at war for decades.

The US-brokered agreement will likely be signed in separate rooms by delegations from Israel and Lebanon on Thursday during a ceremony in the Lebanese town of Naqoura.

According to its conditions, Lebanon has complete rights in the surrounding Qana area while Israel has full rights to develop the Karish field.

Through a separate deal with the operator, the French company Total, Israel will be entitled to a portion of revenues when Qana moves southward across the Line 23 border.

The Hezbollah organization in Lebanon expressed its outrage over the exploration of Karish’s 2.4 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and declared it to be a “red line” before any agreement was reached.

Hezbollah, on the other hand, is in favor of the deal and views it as a viable solution to Lebanon’s ongoing economic dilemma.

The offshore gas field is now on track to join Tamar and Leviathan as Israel’s third offshore natural gas production facility, with each having its own infrastructure linking it to the mainland.

In order to conduct reverse flow testing operations, Energean started pumping gas earlier this month to its Karish floating production facility.

Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid stated that “the production of natural gas from the Karish platform strengthens Israel’s energy security, enhances our stature as energy exporters, strengthens Israel’s economy, and helps in grappling with the global energy crisis.” Lapid is up for re-election on November 1 and refused to submit the agreement for approval to parliament.

According to the energy ministry, gas shipments to Jordan and Egypt would be able to rise, and from there, “to other countries in Europe that need natural gas sources in light of the global energy crisis.”

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