Drilling rig Transocean Barents arrives in Block 9 offshore Lebanon

The drilling rig Transocean Barents arrived Wednesday morning in Block 9 offshore Lebanon and will start operations in the coming weeks to search for gas, caretaker Minister of Public Works and Transport Ali Hamiyah said.

French firm TotalEnergies, in agreement with its partners Eni and QatarEnergy, had signed a contract to begin drilling and exploring for gas in late August in waters off crisis-hit Lebanon.

Caretaker Energy Minister Walid Fayyad said that TotalEnergies estimates the presence of a huge gas field in Block 9.

“We hope that Lebanon will become an oil state,” Fayyad told reporters in Beirut, adding that the results of the drilling are expected in two or three months.

TotalEnergies said in a statement that the rig, Transocean Barents, is now at around 120 kilometers off the coast of Beirut, and the first helicopter that will transport teams to and from the rig is at Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport.

“The arrival of the equipment marks an important step in the preparation of the drilling of the exploration well" this month, TotalEnergies said.

In October, Lebanon and Israel signed a landmark border agreement that opens up lucrative offshore gas fields for the eastern Mediterranean neighbors.

Beirut divided its exclusive economic zone at sea into 10 blocks, and Block 9 was part of the area disputed with Israel.

Block 9 contains the so-called Qana field or Sidon reservoir.

Under the U.S.-mediated deal between Lebanon and Israel that was signed in October, the disputed waters would be divided along a line straddling the “Qana” natural gas field in the Mediterranean. Gas production would be based on the Lebanese side, but Israel would be compensated for gas extracted from its side of the line under a separately signed deal between TotalEnergies and Israel.

There are still no proven gas reserves in the field that straddles the maritime border, but a 2012 seismic study by the British firm Spectrum estimated recoverable gas reserves in Lebanon at 25.4 trillion cubic feet.

Lebanese officials have announced higher estimates.

Many politicians in Lebanon have pinned hopes of a way out of crisis on gas exploration, but analysts have said Beirut, which is in deep financial crisis, cannot count on gas alone to bail it out.