The issue of gas exploration by Eni off the coast of Gaza is not new

A law firm orders Eni not to extract gas off the coast of Gaza.Israel wants to isolate Palestine from an energy point of view.

• In October 2023, Eni was awarded several licenses to explore the eastern Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Gaza, where there is a gas-rich Exclusive Economic Zone.
• A law firm has invited Eni to stop because Israel has announced a concession tender for a marine area that belongs to Palestine.

On February 6, 2024, the law firm Foley Hoag Llp, based in Boston, United States, he sent a notice on behalf of four Arab associations – Al Mezan center for human rights, Al Haq, Palestinian center for human rights (Pchr) and Adalah – inviting the energy company Eni not to undertake activities in the maritime areas of Gaza Strip which belong to Palestine.

Together with the British Dana Petroleum Limited - a subsidiary of the South Korean national petroleum company -, the Israeli Ratio Petroleum and three other companies, Eni has in fact obtained the license to operate within the so-called "zone G", a maritime area within Palestinian territorial waters adjacent to the shores of Gaza, where rages the carnage against Palestinian civilians by the Israeli government.

More precisely, the 62 percent of the G zone would fall within the maritime boundaries declared by the state of Palestine in 2019, in accordance with the provisions of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos), the so-called Montego Bay, to which Palestine is a signatory.But the controversy over licenses to explore gas off the coast of Palestine it started several years ago.Let's see how we got to this point.

Gas exploration off the coast of Palestine

In the eastern Mediterranean, namely south of Cyprus, north of Egypt and west of Israel, Palestine and Lebanon, there is a large area of ​​exploration which falls into one Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).The geopolitical tensions began precisely with the division of the EEZs between Israel, Egypt and Cyprus which took place in 2018 during the first East Mediterranean gas forum (Emgf) and from which Palestine was excluded, under pressure from Israel, together with Turkey.The appeal by the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) was of no avail:the Palestinian territories have never been able to participate in gas exploration, even though that area belongs to Palestine and is therefore its right established by the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (Uclos).

As Filippo Taglieri, ReCommon campaigner, says, "it has been known for years that there is gas down there:in 2011, the Aphrodite field was discovered south of Cyprus and in 2015 Eni discovered the Zohr field in Egypt.Since these are deep waters that require advanced technologies and involve enormous risks, exploration did not take place for a long time.But in 2017, Eni proved it can do it."Since then, Eni extracts in the Egyptian deposit, Chevron on behalf of Israel e TotalEnergies for Cyprus.

Eni won the tender in October 2023

In December 2022, the Israeli Ministry of Energy publishes a tender for the granting of gas exploration licenses in the eastern Mediterranean.The area subject to the tender includes a further 20 exploration blocks of the EEZ, up to 400 square kilometers each, for a total surface area of ​​5,888 square kilometres, and divided into four zones:Zone E, B, G and I (see image above).

In March 2023, during a press conference between the Italian government chaired by Giorgia Meloni, and the Israeli government represented by Benjamin Netanyahu, a significant event occurs, explains Taglieri:“Netanyahu lets himself escape (here, at minute 6:50, ed) that Israel would be signing a commercial agreement with Eni, when the tender announced to assign exploration in international waters it was still ongoing”

Netanyahu's anticipation is confirmed on October 29, 2023, in the midst of war: the awards were made to two groups of companies.In the first there is Eni, together with Dana Petroleum and Ratio Petroleuma;in the second group there are BP (British petroleum), the Azerbaijani state company Socar (which stands for State oil company of Azerbaijan republic and with which Eni has a long tradition of relationships) and the Israeli NewMed energy.

The companies make money from the gas extracted and states get royalties (in addition to discounted prices on the purchase of extracted fuel).Royalties that could also be very useful for Palestine, which is instead excluded from the games and therefore penalized again.Palestine has always been isolated from an energy point of view a strategy pursued by Israel, as demonstrated by the two small basins in Palestinian territorial waters, Marine 1 And Marine 2, which together could guarantee a quantity of gas equal to 3 billion cubic meters of gas:a quantity barely sufficient for the internal consumption of the Strip, but on which Israel you never gave his approval.

As mentioned, 62 percent of the field being explored by Eni would, according to the UN and the law of the sea, belong to Palestine.In addition to the licenses already awarded in Zone G, 73 percent of Zone H also falls within Palestine's declared maritime boundaries, along with 5 percent of Zone E.

If exploration meets extraction estimates, Eni will pay royalties to Israel.When all this will happen is not easy to establish:“It can take 4-5 years from when exploration begins to when we move on to the extraction phase, it depends on the conditions of the seabed,” adds Taglieri."The fact that there are many wells close together in that area could facilitate exploration and therefore speed up initial operations."

More generally, exploration licenses have been granted for a period of three years.During this period the concessionaires will carry out exploratory work on the areas, as part of the commitments contained in their respective offers.After drilling at least one well and executing the work plan, license holders will be able to extend the license period for another two years, up to a maximum of seven years.

Sec, the stock market listing worries Eni

Now, the question is:the complaint spread by the four Arab organizations could materialize in an investigation at Eni's expense?It's hard to say at the moment.But if, as happened in previous cases (see the case Olp245 in Nigeria or scandal Saipem in Algeria), the investigation was initiated by the Sec (the Securities and Exchange Commission, the body that controls the US stock exchange, where Eni is listed) this could cause economic damage to the Italian multinational.

Let's also not forget that, once extracted, the gas will have to be transported through gas pipelines.And here another Italian company comes into play, Snam, which has already supported Israel in the construction of the so-called "peace pipeline", in the Al Arish-Ashkelon route, which connects Israel with Egypt and which has been adapted by Israel for the export of gas and of which Snam has become a partner in 2021.On the one hand, Snam's entry has allowed Israel to resolve some infrastructure problems linked to the export of national gas (Israel has a lot of gas to export:last year alone it managed to extract 10 billion cubic metres) and on the other hand Eni to upgrade the Egyptian Damietta export plant, which had been little used until then.

Antonio Tajani:“The contract with Eni is not finalized”

“Eni announces that the contract for the exploration of zone G it is not finalized, there is therefore currently no exploratory operation or exploitation of resources", he said the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Antonio Tajani, in response to the parliamentary question on initiatives aimed at avoiding Eni's exploration activities in the maritime areas of the Gaza Strip, presented by MP Angelo Bonelli of Alleanza Verdi e Sinistra (Avs).“The picture is particularly complex on both a legal and political level. Economic interests must in fact be reconciled with the legitimate aspirations of the peoples, and the determination of the boundaries of the maritime areas follows the determinations of international and customary law, which must then be applied to specific realities", concludes the ministry.However, no comment was received from Eni.