Off the wire
• Marseille signs Rekik and Ocampos  • Bangladesh receives record 15.3-bln-USD remittance in outgoing financial yr  • Germany's Bayer out of world champs for foot injury  • New charter flight expected from Beijing to Birmingham  • Singapore's leaders extend condolence for Indonesian aircrash  • Airbus A330 completion, delivery center to be built in China's Tianjin  • EU Emissions Trading System needs further improvements: EU auditors  • Ukraine grain exports up 7.7 percent in 2014-2015 marketing year  • Murray crushes Haase to reach Wimbledon third round  • Across China: What's shaking with China's animal earthquake experts?  
You are here: 　 Home

U.S. willing to bolster energy relations with Lebanon

Xinhua, July 3, 2015 Adjust font size:

The United States is willing to further bolster its energy and economic relations with Lebanon, and to help the country in its race against Israel in exploring offshore gas and oil, a senior U.S. official said in Beirut on Thursday.

Amos Hochstein, visiting U.S. deputy assistant secretary for energy diplomacy, expressed the U.S. willingness to further bolster the bilateral relations in energy security and economic development, as well as everything that serves the interest of Lebanon.

The U.S. official said that the "joint work shall continue in the near future to achieve progress in the energy sector, create job opportunities and secure a climate of prosperity, security and peace in the region," according to the Lebanon's National News Agency.

Referring to the demarcation of the maritime border between Lebanon and Israel, Hochstein said the issue is "more complicated than just drawing a line on a map."

"It was time for Lebanon to issue oil decrees and start working," he said, also hinting the United States is ready to assist Lebanon in the demarcation.

Lebanese officials have warned that the delay of government approval of the decrees has given Israel the opportunity to siphon Lebanon's offshore gas and oil through fields that lie only a few kilometers from the country's territorial waters.

Lebanon has been slow to exploit its maritime resources compared to other eastern Mediterranean countries. Israel, Cyprus and Turkey are all more advanced in their drilling efforts for oil and gas.

In January 2014, Lebanon signed a contract with the U.S. company, NEOS GeoSolutions, to enables it to survey the country's oil and gas resources. Despite repeated calls for the cabinet and the parliament to issue the decrees, the approval process has been on hold due to the cabinet's resignation. Endit