Search Site

Trends banner

Eni profit falls due to dip in oil prices

Q2 net profit fell by 18% to $637 million.

Emirates NBD H1 profit $3.40bn

Total income rose by 12 percent in the same period.

ADIB H1 pre-tax profit $1.08bn

Q2 pre-tax net profit increases by 14 percent.

AstraZeneca to invest $50bn in US

Bulk of funds to go into a Virginia manufacturing center.

UAB net profit up by 50% for H1

Total assets increase by 11 percent.

After Israel, Lebanon eyes Cyprus maritime border deal

Israel and Lebanon struck a US-brokered maritime border agreement Thursday that opens up lucrative offshore gas fields for the neighbours. AFP/File
  • In 2007, Lebanon and Cyprus signed an agreement to delineate their respective exclusive economic zones
  • Neighbours Israel and Lebanon signed on Thursday a US-brokered agreement removing hurdles for natural gas production

Lebanon and Cyprus agreed Friday to move ahead with sea border talks a day after Beirut inked a maritime boundary deal with Israel that opens up lucrative offshore gas fields.

“There’s no problem between Lebanon and Cyprus that cannot be resolved easily,” said Cypriot envoy Tasos Tzionis following a meeting with Lebanese President Michel Aoun.

“We had very friendly and extremely constructive discussions” on demarcating maritime borders between the two Mediterranean countries, Tzionis said, expressing hope an agreement was within reach.

In 2007, Lebanon and Cyprus signed an agreement to delineate their respective exclusive economic zones, but it was never ratified by the Lebanese parliament due to the then-unresolved dispute with Israel.

Neighbours Israel and Lebanon, which are technically still at war, signed on Thursday a US-brokered agreement removing hurdles for natural gas production by both countries off their coast.

Cyprus, which has aspirations of becoming a major energy player in the eastern Mediterranean, has a key exclusive economic zone, divided into 12 blocks and potentially rich in gas.

“The cooperation with Cyprus is not like the cooperation with the Israelis, the enemy state,” said Elias Bou Saad, deputy speaker of the Lebanese parliament who played a major role in the indirect talks with Israel.

But Lebanon must also complete talks with its northern neighbour Syria before the maritime border with Cyprus can be finally demarcated.

“We have explained to the Cypriot party that we are not in a position to unilaterally delineate the border… without an agreement with Syria,” said Bou Saad.

Syria, once politically powerful in Lebanon, has repeatedly refused border talks.

The Lebanese presidency announced this week that a delegation would visit Damascus to discuss the issue, but that trip has not happened.

The Syrian ambassador in Beirut, Ali Abdel Karim Ali, said it was due to “confusion” over the proposed dates.

Bou Saab said “we have demanded to meet again with our Syrian friends.”