Lebanon abandons Karish claim: press

Lebanon has apparently dropped its claim to the disputed Eastern Mediterranean waters with Israel that contain Energean's Karish gas field, Globes reported June 20.

Globes' sources suggest Lebanon will retreat from its dispute over the 29th marine demarcation line, in which Karish is situated, and instead seek agreement around the 23rd line which it has previously presented to the UN in negotiations with Israel.

Lebanon had in December 2020 expanded its claim to line 29 of the East Mediterranean. It is thought to have changed its position following talks with US mediator Amos Hochstein, the special envoy of US president Joe Biden, aimed at forcing a compromise with Israel.

Earlier reports indicated the compromise would mean Lebanon taking sole rights to the Qana gas prospect. There has been no drilling activity at Qana and it has no proven gas reserves.

Karish's floating production storage and offloading vessel arrived in Israel earlier this month, and the project is on track for its scheduled launch window in the third quarter. Energean has been expanding its reserves in the area. In early May, it announced the Olympus gas find at the Athena well in block 12, situated just 20 km from Karish. Olympus could either be developed as a standalone gas field, or together with other resources in the wider Olympus area.