Petroleum Authority Active on Assessment of Reserves despite Delay in Gas Licensing

The Petroleum Authority has been active in assessing the gas and oil reserves in ten offshore blocks despite the failure of the government to approve two essential decrees, As Safir daily reported on Thursday.

The newspaper said that the authority and a French institution completed three months ago the map of reserves in Lebanon's Exclusive Economic Zone.

Their study showed that Lebanon has gas reserves worth 13.5 billion barrels and 1.2 billion barrels of oil reserves, said the report.

Despite the huge revenues that the exploration of oil and gas can bring, the two decrees on the number of blocks that will be auctioned and the mechanism for revenue sharing haven't yet been adopted by the government.

The approval of the decrees is necessary to launch the licensing round, which in August last year was postponed for the fifth time over a dispute among the different factions.

The disagreements were over the designation of blocks open for bidding and the terms of a draft exploration agreement.

According to As Safir, Israel's ambassador to Paris pressured the French institution to end its cooperation with the Lebanese authorities. But the company stressed that it has signed contracts with Beirut and would stay committed to them.

Speaker Nabih Berri on several occasions accused Israel of stealing Lebanon's offshore oil and gas in an area close to the southern border with the Jewish State.

The Lebanese government is also cooperating with the Norwegian authorities to improve the institutions involved in the petroleum sector, said As Safir.

Lebanon signed a three-year cooperation contract with Oslo to develop the technical and human capabilities of the Lebanese institutions linked to the sector, it said.

As part of their mission, Norwegian experts would train staff on the protection of the environment from oil leaks. Oslo would also fund studies and train geologists, the reported added.

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