11.07.2011                      09.Tammus, 5771

Erdgas-Erkundung:

'Israel painted as bad guy to speed Lebanese drilling'

Beirut lays claim to offshore exploration rights already granted to companies by J’lem; expert says move a Lebanese ploy.

Following the cabinet’s decision on Sunday to approve a demarcation of the country’s northern maritime borders for UN submission, an energy policy expert said that Lebanese claims to Israeli exploratory territory may be fueled by a need to position Israel as the “bad guy” in order to get its own laws on the matter passed faster.
“They were trying to ram through a Petroleum Law, to get the exploration going,” said Prof. Brenda Shaffer, an expert on energy policy and management in the School of Political Science at the University of Haifa, referring to a Lebanese law passed last August….