Bassil to Kick Off Oil and Gas Tenders Eventually, Rejects Risking Country's Offshore Wealth
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
Caretaker Energy Minister Jebran Bassil said on Wednesday that he will eventually kick off the oil and gas tenders even without the caretaker cabinet's approval of the two decrees essential to award the oil blocks for oil companies.
However, Bassil didn't rule out in comments published in As Safir newspaper that the tenders, which are set for January 10, 2014, might be postponed for the third time if the oil companies failed to present their documents.
“Oil exploration process will not be crippled,” Bassil stressed, saying that the priority at this stage is for the cabinet to convene to approve the two decrees and determine the oil blocks.
The decrees call for demarcating 10 maritime oil exploration blocks and setting up a revenue-sharing model.
However the main point of contention remains caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati's rejection to hold a session for the cabinet, which he argues that it requires a unanimous political agreement, adding that a caretaker cabinet can't approve non-essential decrees.
However, Speaker Nabih Berri and Bassil call for the caretaker to hold an extraordinary session to approve the two decrees and guarantee Lebanon's rights.
Bassil postponed in October for the second time the oil and gas tenders to January 10, 2014 after the cabinet failed once again to convene to approve the two decrees.
But Bassil told As Safir that the Lebanese state “shouldn't wait for the companies to lose their interest or until Israel goes ahead with its deals.”
“If the oil companies presented their documents we will kick off the oil and gas tenders even without the two oil decrees,” Bassil added.
Asked about the risks he's taking if such a move was taken, the caretaker minister listed two reasons.
The first would be challenging the issue and the second the companies failure to attend the tenders.
“The political repercussions of such a move are far less than risking the country's oil,” Bassil said, wondering “why would Lebanon want to miss such an opportunity.”
The country's oil and gas wealth attracted around 46 Arab and international companies in the second pre-qualification round of the tenders process.
Acute discord among Lebanese officials is also delaying the awarding of 10 of the oil blocks as Berri is calling for the assigning of the 10 offshore blocks for oil exploration at once.
Bassil told the newspaper that the companies are interested in blocks 1, 2, 4, 5, 6 and 9, which are already scanned and the Lebanese state have exact information about them.
27 November 2013, 11:48
136
how come you recognise Layoun? "because thieves recognize themselves" i read.... thank you for making us notice this FPM is a thief.... according to you. now awhat are you going to do about it? He's you M8 minister, so is Mikati and the others....
27 November 2013, 09:26
135
trying to rush this before a new cabinet is created so he gets his commission.
27 November 2013, 10:35
78
New cabinet? Wishful thinking. No worries, he will back sitting on the same seat.
27 November 2013, 10:41
412
independence was on the the 22
and to be independent financially and energy wise this will pull the rug under the feet of tal omrak Lebanese lakies of the gulf
god bless Lebanon
hope the arab spring blossom in the gulf region soon
27 November 2013, 13:24
132
@Southern : you want Lebanon to be independent economically ?
Hezbollah with their wargames have ruined our economy.
No more tourists
No more jobs for Lebanese
No more talents in Lebanon
No more economy
Those who falsely accuse Hariri of ruining our economy cannot accept the fact that our economy was never better than when Rafiq was in power with thriving business and banking sectors, huge tourist boom, investments flowing in from around the world.
What did Hezbollah bring ? Destruction of all our economy !
I beg you to prove the contrary !
And avoid your lies of stealing money and debt because your M8 is as much responsible for this as M14. At least we had something running before Hezbollah ruined it all !
27 November 2013, 14:04
103
I love how empty your comments are.
If you do not agree with me, prove the contrary instead of remaining the irrelevant poster that you are.
You will of course insult me and accuse me once more of being a thief in order to evade arguments you are incapable of conducting.
27 November 2013, 16:20
29
Fine. Let him have an airplane. Let him steal.
Let us be pragmatic. We are the amongst the most commercial minded people in the world. Our leaders WILL steal. Understand this and stop getting excited about it.
The idea is that those leaders be EFFICIENT to deserve the money they steal. And Bassil is trying to be efficient to move the oil file instead of allowing the Leviathan field for example to be siphoned off by israel.
27 November 2013, 18:16
91
yes by spitting on the constitution as usual with FPMers.... read the constitution and you ll see that a caretaker gvt CANNOT take such decrees....
27 November 2013, 19:47
100
and tell us why is better to be under the syrian iranian tag team?
27 November 2013, 22:05
17
where do u get ur info from , Samy Gemayel . Get ur facts straight
http://www.tayyar.org/Tayyar/News/PoliticalNews/en-US/water-ministry-gemayel-zek-159.htm
27 November 2013, 22:08
39
Some retards still claim that bassil owns a jet. As if it is easy to hide it. I will pay a 1000$ to c a pic of that plane or a document to prove its his
28 November 2013, 00:11
41
Bassil has been caught with his pants down. The bribe is already in his account, but there was a set back and he can't deliver. Expect Bassil to continuously push for this file even if he has to do it illegally, as he is suggesting in his press release.
