Israeli gas attack

British Gas owns the rights to all of Gaza's off-shore gas:

BG Group drilled two successful wells in 2000 (Gaza Marine-1 and Gaza Marine-2). Reserves are estimated to be around 1 tcf.

Negotiations have been on hold and BG closed it's Israel office according to their website. Why?

Michel Chossudovsky: British Gas (BG Group) has been dealing with the Tel Aviv government. In turn, the Hamas government has been bypassed in regards to exploration and development rights over the gas fields.

The election of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in 2001 was a major turning point. Palestine's sovereignty over the offshore gas fields was challenged in the Israeli Supreme Court. Sharon stated unequivocally that "Israel would never buy gas from Palestine" intimating that Gaza's offshore gas reserves belong to Israel.

In 2003, Ariel Sharon, vetoed an initial deal, which would allow British Gas to supply Israel with natural gas from Gaza's offshore wells. (The Independent, August 19, 2003)

The election victory of Hamas in 2006 was conducive to the demise of the Palestinian Authority, which became confined to the West Bank, under the proxy regime of Mahmoud Abbas.

In 2006, British Gas "was close to signing a deal to pump the gas to Egypt." (Times, May, 23, 2007). According to reports, British Prime Minister Tony Blair intervened on behalf of Israel with a view to shunting the agreement with Egypt.

The following year, in May 2007, the Israeli Cabinet approved a proposal by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert "to buy gas from the Palestinian Authority." The proposed contract was for $4 billion, with profits of the order of $2 billion of which one billion was to go the Palestinians.

Tel Aviv, however, had no intention on sharing the revenues with Palestine. An Israeli team of negotiators was set up by the Israeli Cabinet to thrash out a deal with the BG Group, bypassing both the Hamas government and the Palestinian Authority:
"Israeli defence authorities want the Palestinians to be paid in goods and services and insist that no money go to the Hamas-controlled Government."

The objective was essentially to nullify the contract signed in 1999 between the BG Group and the Palestinian Authority under Yasser Arafat.

Under the proposed 2007 agreement with BG, Palestinian gas from Gaza's offshore wells was to be channeled by an undersea pipeline to the Israeli seaport of Ashkelon, thereby transferring control over the sale of the natural gas to Israel.

The deal fell through. The negotiations were suspended:
"Mossad Chief Meir Dagan opposed the transaction on security grounds, that the proceeds would fund terror"

The Israelis want to effectively confiscate the Gaza fields at sea as they have done the whole of the land that Israel occupies now - it's cheaper to just take it. The Israeli government would not mind Abu Mazan's Vichyesque Fatah regime getting its cut of one tenth - but not Hamas. Hamas would attack the off-shore platforms to dissuade there exploitation if the people of Gaza are not going to see a cent. So I can't see any movement there which is why BG seems to have abandoned its plans... although the author above suggests deals in advance of the war have been started between BG and Israel Electric Corporation.

The Egyptian government has been in the barrel over its supply to Israel of its gas. Egypt helps to blockade Gaza while it sends its own energy supplies to Israel. It is this sort of collaboration with Israel that threatens to send the hard-line Islamists into power. Mubarak can only manipulate the elections so far to keep them out. Radicalisation is being sown by Israel via her compliant Arab neighbours.

Hat tip:Aotearoa: a wider perspective.