Legal status The legal status of the Gaza Marine gas field is complex and contested. In 1999, the license for the area was controversially granted to the Palestinian Authority by Israeli Prime Minister
Ehud Barak, but its precise legal standing remains ambiguous. As a result, when the Houston-based
Noble Energy and its Israeli partner
Delek took BG Group to court in 2021 to challenge the license area it had been given by the PA, the court abstained from giving a verdict, because, according to the government of Israel, pending a final peace deal, it was the equivalent of “no-man’s water. The Gaza Marine field's location complicates its management, as neither the Palestinian Authority nor Hamas, which controls Gaza, has full jurisdiction over it. According to the
Oslo Accords, maritime zones near Gaza are under partial Palestinian control, yet any activity beyond 20 nautical miles requires Israeli naval approval. The situation is further complicated by increased Israeli control over the area since Hamas took over Gaza in 2007. The natural gas deposits, found in two small gas fields dubbed Gaza Marine 1 and Gaza Marine 2, have been discovered in September 2000, offshore, at a depth of . The two Gaza Marine fields were estimated to contain more than 1 trillion cubic feet (about 30 billion cubic meters) of natural gas, more than is needed to power the Palestinian territories, with potential to export. Security and economic negotiations have been ongoing with
Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) and Egypt exploring options for converting the natural gas into
liquefied natural gas. The IEC initially refused to purchase gas from the Gaza Marine field because the price was higher than gas available from Egypt. However, reports later indicated that the refusal was politically motivated. In 2001, then-Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon blocked any deal involving Palestinian gas. By May 2002, Sharon lifted the veto after encouragement from British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who believed that purchasing Palestinian gas could contribute to advancing peace efforts during a tense period. Despite some progress in negotiations, in the summer of 2003, Sharon reversed his stance, halting any deal that might allow funds to reach the Palestinian Authority (PA), citing concerns that such funds could support terrorism. In 2015, the
Palestinian government resumed negotiations on the agreement with BG and abrogated the exclusive rights it had given to the company. It also raised the PIF share from 10% under the old agreement to 17.5%. Subsequently, Shell acquired BG on April 8, 2016. The development and gas extraction rights belonged to the
Palestinians alone. In June 2023, Israel granted preliminary approval to the project, while clarifying that its implementation is "subject to coordination" between its security services, Egypt and the PA, in order to "maintain its security and diplomatic interests." ==See also==