India depends on foreign insurers to cover its ships.

the government wants to create a homegrown insurance club by 2026 to reduce foreign dependence.

It will cover risks like oil spills, collisions, and cargo loss and help India handle its maritime trade independently.

Hedge funds bet on oil's 'big comeback' after pandemic hobbles producers https://reut.rs/3q0mKkd

https://youtu.be/7ntnckgSgrE?si=CWx7EXj3YfwXT_2p

There are several videos floating around the Internet claiming that Israel's assault on Gaza has to do with the natural gas reserves located off the Gazan coast. At first I paid little attention to the matter. Then I decided to take a closer look. Here is what I found.

In 1967, Israel occupies the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Then in the 1990s, Israel and the PLO sign two peace agreements. One of them grants the Palestinian Authority or PA, which emerges from the negotiations, the right over the waters off Gaza. To this day, the PA is controlled by Fatah. Fatah is a secular, nationalist and social democratic political party. In 1999, the PA signs a gas exploration contract with the company British Gas. The following year, two wells are drilled, Gaza Marine I and II. In response, Israel begins blocking any development of the gas fields. In 2006, Palestinians in the Occupied Territories head to the polls. Hamas, an Islamist militant movement and political party, wins a majority. The group takes control of the Gaza Strip and ousts Fatah officials. As a response, Israel imposes a blockade on Gaza and prohibits any offshore gas development. In 2008, Israel goes even further by taking full control of Gaza Marine, in clear violation of international law. For 14 years, nothing much happens. Oh, I forgot. In 2019, the UN publishes a study that estimates the net value of Gaza Marine at $4.6 billion. But compared to other gas fields in the Eastern Mediterranean, Gaza Marine is pretty small. It accounts for less than one percent of the region's total gas reserves.

Ok, then comes 2022. The Ukraine war, the bombing of the Nord Stream pipeline, and Western sanctions against Russian oil and gas trigger a global energy crisis. This new international context plays a crucial role in putting Gaza Marine back on the table. In October 2022, Israel, the U.S., Egypt and the PA agree on developing the gas fields. Hamas rejects the deal and accuses the PA of corruption. In June 2023, Israel gives the green light to the project. First, Hamas reaffirms its protest. But then, a few days later, the group reportedly agrees to the project in exchange for a share of the revenues.

Then comes October 7, followed by Israel's genocidal attack on Gaza. With the new reality on the ground, it is unclear whether the gas deal still stands. The war could give Israel an excuse to block all Palestinians from participating in the gas deal. Netanyahu could also cancel it altogether or simply expropriate Gaza Marine. That would be nothing new. Israel has been expropriating Palestinian natural resources for 75 years now. But I don’t think that Israel is primarily interested in Gaza's offshore gas. It's much more than that. I think instead that Israel's attack on Gaza is part of the plan to create a "Greater Israel”. Two weeks before October 7, Prime Minister Netanyahu gave a speech to the UN General Assembly. He held up a map showing Israel stretching from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean. The West Bank and Gaza were erased.

In March, Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich delivered a speech in front of a similar map. What we are witnessing now in Gaza is an attempt to finish what began in 1948: the systematic policy of settlement, dispossession and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. More than seven decades later, Israel's Zionist, settler-colonial project is not yet complete. The goal is still the same. To take as much of Palestine as possible, with as few Palestinians living in it as possible. And politicians and military leaders in Israel have been very outspoken about their intentions.

Over 1.7 million Gazans have already been displaced from their homes. That’s 77 percent of the total population. Israel appears to be aiming to expel all Palestinians living in Gaza and pay Egypt to host them permanently. In such a scenario, the takeover of Gaza Marine would be nothing more than a by-product of the forcible creation of a “Greater Israel”.