Yes, we are capable of stealing Lebanese gas

Lebanese Energy Minister Gebran Bassil is a gas.

The minister presented reporters with a map and stated that Israel could "theoretically" place a gas pipe and pull the gas "located 4 kilometers (2.5 miles)" from Lebanon's natural gas wells, thanks to its advanced technological abilities.

What can I say? There is nothing wrong with the man's instincts. He is certainly sensing what is coming to his cherished gas.

"We are not saying a crisis has taken place, but we must take all measures to prevent Israel from getting hold of our gas in the future," Bassil was quoted as saying. "Israel would be able to dig horizontally. By doing that, it could reach the proven wells in Lebanon," Bassil said.

Of course, we are perfectly able to "dig horizontally", as Mr Bassil says, not quite professionally.

In the professional lingo the procedure is called "horizontal shafting", and this is the way to go when something you are aiming to extract from the earth is not exactly - how to say it - in your own backyard.

Mr Bassil probably has read our report on the biggest oil caper in history. So he must know that to shaft Lebanon horizontally for some natural gas is a child's play compared to what we have done with Saudi oil reserves.