Report: Lebanon’s Oil Wealth Under Israeli Threats

Speaker Nabih Berri raised with the French ambassador Bruno Foucher the file of Lebanon’s maritime oil from the perspective of Israel's attempt to explore within the Lebanese sea waters, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Thursday.

Berri had pointed to the “seriousness of this Israeli attack,” stressing that “Lebanon can not accept this, nor abandon its right to its water and oil wealth.” He “rejected attempts to prevent Lebanon from taking advantage of its wealth, as some parties sought to postpone the exploration plan in some blocks, for a year.”

Sources well-informed about the file told the newspaper that «raising this subject with the French ambassador, Berri sought to make the French oil giant company, Total, note Lebanon’s position and the exploration plan submitted and signed by a consortium of France's Total, Italy's Eni and Russia's Novatek,” against the backdrop of an agreement reached earlier to start drilling in 2019.

The daily said Berri has a tendency to keep this file at the forefront of the Lebanese state's concern, and to mobilize support for Lebanon's position in preserving its rights and sovereignty.

In this context, the Lebanese-Israeli-UNIFIL tripartite military meeting held in Naqoura last week emphasized Lebanon's position on its sovereignty over its land, sea water and oil wealth, and rejected Israel's attempts to harm or undermine it.

The position of the Lebanese army was firm in countering any Israeli aggression on these rights, it added.