"Certificate of insurance for the Israeli rigs":
The gas agreement between Israel and Lebanon is expected to be signed on Thursday in the town of Naqura, located on the Lebanese side of the border near Rosh Hankara.
In the morning, the government will convene to approve the agreement, after which the director general of the Ministry of Energy, Lior Shilat, will head a delegation to the signing ceremony. According to the Lebanese demand, the ceremony will be held separately, under the supervision of the American mediator Amos Hochstein, without the two delegations staying together in the room.
After the signing, the Shark rig, located in Israeli territory, is expected to start producing gas.
At the same time, Lebanon will begin surveying the Kana gas field, which geologists estimate that there is a reasonable chance that significant gas reserves are found there.
If commercial quantities of reserves are indeed found, the development of the field is expected to take five to seven years, and Israel will receive royalties for the part of it that is within its domain.
A torch above the Harish gas rig (archive), photo: Amos Ben Gershom / L.A.M
As part of the agreement, Israel gave up the entire area of economic waters that was in dispute between the countries, but it should be noted that as of today, there are no known resources in this area.
In addition, Israel gave up several square kilometers of territorial waters, in which Israeli law applies.
The agreement will make it possible to immediately develop the Shark rig without fear of security escalation, and to sell the gas that will be produced from it at record prices, in light of the energy crisis that is plaguing Europe due to the war in Ukraine.
In addition, Israel estimates that the placement of a Lebanese rig in the Kana field will constitute a sort of "insurance certificate" for all Israeli rigs - including those in the Leviathan, Tanin and Tamar reservoirs.
This is because Hezbollah will know that any damage to one of these rigs will be met with an attack on the Lebanese rig, which will provoke harsh criticism against it in the country.
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