President Michel Sleiman said on Thursday that Lebanon and Cyprus will
boost their efforts in oil and gas extraction after he held talks with
his Cypriot counterpart Demetris Christofias in Beirut.
Sleiman said the talks gave "special attention to the oil and
gas available in our maritime zones" and that quick efforts must be
undertaken by the two Mediterranean countries to exploit newly found
energy resources.
"We have decided to increase the frequency of coordination and
cooperation to reach an agreement about the principles and mechanisms
which will allow both our countries to extract this wealth," Sleiman
told reporters at a joint press conference with Christofias.
He said the two countries share a "border in the exclusive economic zone" where "new oil resources were recently discovered".
Christofias said the new "discovery of hydrocarbons naturally creates great expectations for our peoples.
"We will continue our efforts and actions while fully
exercising our sovereign rights. We reject tactics and approaches which
recourse to threats and intimidation."
Christofias referred in his remarks to Turkish reservations on
Cyprus' claims to the resources, and to Lebanon's own dispute with
Israel over maritime demarcations.
Cyprus has forged ahead with its own energy search but is
anxious to conclude demarcation agreements on maritime exclusive
economic zones (EEZ) with its neighbors.
In the past, Cyprus has signed delineation agreements with
Egypt, Israel and Lebanon to pave the way for exploiting hydrocarbon
deposits that criss-cross their boundaries.
Turkey has protested strongly against the Cyprus government's
offshore energy bid, branding it illegal and retaliating by starting its
own exploratory drilling off the breakaway north of the island.