Caretaker Minister of Energy and Water, Nada Boustani, announced in a press conference this Friday “the issuance and delivery of the first license for the “Total – ENI – Novatek” group for oil and gas exploration in Block 4.

She said “the license has been granted after the companies completed all the necessary preparations to start the drilling process. Committing to the executive deadlines is evidence of confidence in Lebanon. I thank the Petroleum Sector Supervisory Authority, which has put special effort into reaching this stage, and I hereby hand over the drilling license for well No. 4 to the director of Total Company. Congratulations to Lebanon; today we will start digging the first exploration well in Block 4.”

Boustani expected the ship to arrive in January, saying “the drilling process will take about two months, plus two more months to analyze the data and learn whether or not there is potential for commercial exploration.”

She pointed out that “the global success rate is 1 out of 3 exploratory wells, and the current situation will not affect this path.”

“Working on this well will lead to obtaining important information about the petroleum geological system in our sea, which will reflect positively on the other blocks and the second licensing cycle.

“We will be working on Block 9 after Block 4, according to the drafted plan. So far, there is a great desire to advance to the second licensing cycle,” she declared.

Boustani also stressed that “this sector has witnessed the highest standards of transparency, (…) therefore we have great hopes and I believe that the necessary laws were put in place to keep [the sector] away from conflicts.”

Source: NNA