Abbas In Russia To Sign Energy Deal Abbas meets Russian PM and president to sign $1 billion

inn ^ | 1/23/14 | Ari Yashar

[Nachum]

Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, while in Russia on Thursday, was reported to be signing a $1 billion natural gas project in Gaza with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.

While exact details of the deal or start-dates for the project remain unclear, the Russian state news agency ITAR-TASS reported that Russia's natural gas giant Gazprom intends to produce 30 billion cubic meters of natural gas off the Gaza coast.

Further, Russia's Technopromexport engineering firm appears to be pursuing an oil development project near Ramallah.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who met with Abbas, said "relations between Russia and Palestine are based on a very solid historical foundation," adding "a lot needs to be done to develop the trade and economic relations between the two countries," reports Voice of Russia.

Ties between the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Soviet Union began in 1970, when PLO leader Yasser Arafat visited Moscow. In 1988 the Soviet Union officially recognized "Palestine" as a state, following a proclamation at the Palestine National Council in Algeria that year.

[Nachum]

Abbas In Russia To Sign Energy Deal Abbas meets Russian PM and president to sign $1 billion natural gas project in Gaza, hails Russian 'friends of Palestine.'

[silverleaf]

off the “Gaza coast”, hmm?

wonder how far laterally those drills will leach into the surrounding coastline of ISRAEL

[faithhopecharity]

I am aware of no ‘palestinian’ arab sovereign rights to any oil or gas resources in the Mediterranean

also, per the accords I have seen, the IDF Navy retains full rights to patrol and interdict .... in all 3 “zones” in that region

I’m ready to stand corrected but unless I’m missing something, this accord cannot grant Russia any drilling rights since the palie arabs don’t have any such rights in the first place, to sell or lease or franchise out.

if the Russians really want to drill there, they’d better cut a deal with Israel

[Navy Patriot]

if the Russians really want to drill there, they’d better cut a deal with Israel

Where natural gas and oil are concerned, Russia and Israel are on the same page, as with a goodly number of other international interests.

[Tailgunner Joe]

Abbas got his college degree from Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow. His dissertation was on “The secret relationship between Zionism and Nazism.”

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Nachum.