Total, Eni, Novatek Win Lebanon's First Offshore Licenses
- Drilling in two blocks expected to begin in 2019: official
- Lebanon is late to the race to find oil, gas in eastern Med
A Total SA oil refinery.
Photographer: Jochen Eckel/Bloomberg
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Lebanon granted its first offshore energy rights to a group comprising Total SA, Eni SpA and Novatek PJSC, joining a regional race to find and develop oil and natural gas wealth in the eastern Mediterranean after years of delay.
The cabinet awarded two licenses in its first offshore bidding round, allowing the companies to jointly explore blocks 4 and 9, Wissam Chbat, a member of the Lebanese Petroleum Administration, said Thursday by phone. The group has one month to prepare legal, administrative and technical paperwork before signing production-sharing contracts with the government in January, Chbat said. Drilling is expected to begin in 2019, he said.