Israel responded to Egypt’s efforts to allow the Palestinian Authority to extract natural gas from the “Marin” gas field off the coast of Gaza, as reported today (Sunday) on the Al-Monitor website by sources in the Egyptian intelligence service and the PLO.
According to the report, Egypt has been conducting bilateral and secret talks for several months, this after years of Israeli objections to the production of natural gas off the coast of Gaza for security reasons. The field, located about 30 km west of the Gaza coast, was discovered in 2000 by British Gas (now BG Group) and contains more than 1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. The cost of developing the field is estimated at 1.2 billion dollars.
A senior official in the Egyptian intelligence service told Al-Monitor anonymously that “an Egyptian economic and security delegation discussed for several months with the Israeli side the issue of allowing natural gas production off the coast of Gaza. The delegation was finally able to reach a compromise that would benefit all relevant parties, the most important of which are Israel and the Palestinian Authority.” .
On February 21, 2021, the Palestinian Authority and Egypt signed a memorandum of understanding on the development of the offshore gas field in Gaza. As part of the agreement, the Egyptian Natural Gas Holdings Company and the Palestinian Authority will cooperate in developing the gas field, transferring gas to the Palestinian areas and possibly selling it to Egypt. The Egyptian official explained that Israel demanded to begin practical measures to extract gas from the Gaza fields at the beginning of 2024.
A member of the PLO Executive Committee told Al-Monitor anonymously that Egypt informed the Palestinian Authority of Israel’s approval to begin producing Palestinian gas off the coast of Gaza. He noted that this came after political pressure exerted by European countries on Israel to meet its needs for alternatives to Russian gas within the framework The agreement Egypt and Israel will supervise the production process, part of the gas will be exported to Egypt and the bulk of it will be exported by Israel to Europe via Greece and Cyprus. The financial revenues from the Palestinian gas export process will return to the Authority, with a portion of these revenues being allocated to support the Gaza economy.
Meanwhile, it seems that Hamas does not want to leave empty-handed from the revenues from gas production off the coast of Gaza. During an event held at the Gaza port on September 13, the Palestinian factions laid the foundation stone “for a maritime corridor linking the Gaza Strip with the outside world”, and inaugurated a mural that reads “Our gas is our right”. In their speech during the event, the leaders of the factions demanded that the Palestinians be allowed to enjoy their gas resources, stressing that “they will not allow Israel to steal it.”
The Marin offshore gas field was discovered in September 2000. The field is located about 36 km (22 miles) offshore, the “Marin 1” well was drilled to a depth of 1,895 meters, with the water depth at the drilling site about 550 meters.
In April 2018, BG (which became a subsidiary of the Royal Dutch Energy Corporation) relinquished the winnings in the field and they transferred back to the Palestinian Investment Fund (PIF) under undisclosed terms. In June 2018, the Palestinian Authority announced that it would begin developing the reservoir and began negotiations with Energian on a development agreement.