Airborne onshore
oil survey complete

Six-month examination required

US-based NEOS Geosolutions completed an aerial survey over the northern half of the country, today, covering an area of 6,000 square kilometers.

This data acquisition phase was designed to map the regional prospects of oil and gas by integrating two-dimensional seismic data with other newly acquired airborne geophysical datasets, including: magnetic, electromagnetic, radiometric, gravity, and hyper-spectral. These data are used by oil and gas companies to analyze and determine the area’s potential for hydrocarbon exploration and development.

The survey included Cessna flying operations over the transition zone (TZ) and the Mediterranean coastline.

Arthur Nazarian, Minister of Energy and Water, said: “The completion of all airborne geophysical acquisition today gives us hope and enthusiasm to re-launch the oil and gas industry and we are awaiting the final interpretations to determine the prospective areas.”

These new datasets will be very useful to oil and gas companies that have investments in, or may be considering investing in, hydrocarbon exploration in Lebanon, according to Nazarian.

The result of a January 2014 agreement between the Ministry of Energy and Water (MoEW) and Petroserv, the company’s local representative, the airborne survey reduces the examination of the area from three years to one.

Following an estimated six-month period of processing and interpretation, the measurements and interpretive products will be made available for license and delivery to interested parties, in the second quarter of 2015.