Lebanon launched a new phase of oil and gas exploration in the country, by granting a reconnaissance license to carry out 3D seismic survey work in block 8, located near the bluffs with Israel.
This coincides with the start of oil and gas exploration operations in block 9, after the arrival of the drilling ship “Trans Osh” to the territorial waters to carry out its tasks, which it is hoped will result in finding reserves of hydrocarbons before the end of the year.
Today, Thursday, August 24 (2023), Minister of Energy in the Lebanese caretaker government, Walid Fayyad, announced the granting of “BrightSkys” and “Goex” companies a reconnaissance license to carry out a three-dimensional seismic survey in Block No. 8, to collect and study data in order to crystallize and market them to international companies, according to what was stated. Viewed by the specialized energy platform.
Map of oil in the Mediterranean
Fayyad said, “It is a historic day in a long march that the Ministry of Energy began in 2010 to put Lebanon on the map of oil and gas in the Mediterranean.”
The Minister of Energy reviewed the main stations for the start of oil and gas exploration operations in Lebanon, explaining that the first station was in 2010 when the then Minister of Energy put in place the necessary implementation legislation and decrees with the help of a working group of experts.
He pointed out that the second of the main stations was in 2018, permeated by a vacuum due to political crises, which prevented the signing of basic agreements, that is, distribution agreements for squares, which led to a delay in the march.
Lebanese Energy Minister Walid Fayyad
He added, “On the positive side, the necessary licenses were given for prospecting, exploration, and concluding contracts with international partners, for example, Total Energy and Eni, and Qatar Energy joined them later, in addition to launching exploration work.”
In February 2018, Lebanon signed its first offshore oil and gas exploration contract in blocks 9 and 4, with a consortium including energy giants Total, Eni, and Novatek.
About two years later, specifically in April 2020, Lebanon announced that initial drilling operations in Concession 4 showed traces of gas, but it did not have commercial reserves, and exploration operations in Concession 9 stopped, due to the presence of part of it in the disputed area with Israel. .
After signing the maritime border demarcation agreement with Israel, Total Energy moved to start drilling operations, which culminated in recent days with the arrival of the “Transocean” drilling ship.
Fayyad said: “In 2022, the historic achievement represented by the demarcation took place thanks to the presence of a determined leadership, in addition to the stand of all leaders with it, because the efforts united in one direction, and at the same time the global circumstance also helped, because everyone needed gas, and the demand increased.” “.
Qana field
Fayyad said: “The enemy (Israel) began producing gas, and the equation of power dictated that gas could not be produced from the Israeli side without Lebanon extracting the gas and benefiting from it, and then the historic demarcation was completed that gave Lebanon all its geographical rights, and the resources under the water.”
Fayyad presented the excavation license in Block No. 9, saying: “Today’s station is a double one. From the first perspective, the excavation work is launched in Block No. 9 and the excavation license is granted in it. This license came in implementation of the legislation during a long journey, and today it crystallized through the excavation license, and we hope that A commercial reservoir is being discovered in the Qana field.
He added, “This license, today it began working on it, we granted it after all the necessary matters were completed, including a study of the environmental impact and security, environmental and social requirements, in cooperation between the Petroleum Sector Authority and the relevant ministries.”
The Lebanese Prime Minister on the Transocean drilling rig
Square 8
Fayyad offered a reconnaissance license to conduct a three-dimensional seismic survey in Block No. 8, saying: “Today we are launching the survey to collect data in Block No. 8, and this license, which will be handed over today to the head of the coalition, comes from Bright Skies and Geox, which are a consortium of international companies concerned with three-dimensional interstitial scanning.” .
He added, “These companies have the technology necessary to study the data in order to crystallize and market them to international companies, on the basis of which they decide to participate in the licensing round in Box No. 8.”
Lebanon had launched the second licensing round for offshore oil and gas exploration in November 2021, the second phase, and the deadline for submitting applications for participation was extended several times.
The round includes the numbers of patches open for bidding, which are 8 pieces out of 10 patches, as the bidding took place on patches 4 and 9 in the first licensing round.
Fayyad indicated that launching the survey would not have been possible in the region had the demarcation not been completed, because it is in a disputed area, and the survey enables Lebanon to obtain 3D data and market it to international oil companies to increase competition and demand for the second licensing round in the remaining blocks, including Block No. 8.
He explained that launching surveys increases competition to help Lebanon obtain the best commercial terms in terms of sharing resources and profits as a result of the participation of the private sector and future partners, even if they include companies operating in Square No. 9.
Oil and gas reserves in Lebanon
Lebanon’s exclusive economic zone includes 10 maritime zones, ranging in area from 1,201 to 2,374 square kilometers per square, and the search operations in two of them (sector 4 and sector 9) were assigned to a consortium of 3 companies, which are the French Total, the Italian Eni, and the Russian Novatec, and the latter withdrew recently, to transfer its share To the Lebanese government.
The gas industry expert in OAPEC, Wael Abdel Moaty, had confirmed in a previous tweet to him on the “X” Twitter platform previously that “over the past two decades, two- and three-dimensional seismic survey data have been collected in the exclusive economic zone, which has an area of 22 thousand and 730 square kilometers, According to preliminary data, there are 25 trillion cubic feet of gas in the southwestern corner.
He added, “In my estimation, if Lebanon succeeds during the next few years in extracting gas from its economic waters (the exclusive economic zone), it will be an important player on the regional stage, and its geographical location qualifies it for that.”
The following map, prepared by the specialized energy platform, shows the oil and gas blocks in Lebanon:
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2023-08-24 14:49:28
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