Up to $240 million investment
in oil and gas in first five year

Drilling to begin in block 4

The oil and gas consortium, formed of Total, ENI, and Novatek, will invest an estimated amount of $40 million for the construction of each exploratory well. The consortium will construct a total of four wells over the five-year exploration phase.

Walid Nasr, Chairman of the Lebanese Petroleum Administration, said: “The Ministry of Energy and Water (MoEW) agreed with the consortium to build a fifth contingency well if it finds a confirmed discovery in the first well.”

This brings total investments in all five wells to $240 million.

Nasr said that drilling in the first exploratory phase will be in both blocks 4 and 9 but the consortium will start with block 4 because they have more data about potential discoveries. The total governmental take from block 4 ranges from between 64 and 71 percent and in block 9 from between 55 and 63 percent of total net profit.

The consortium will also pay $40 million per well as guarantees once the Exploration and Production Agreement with the Ministry is signed next month.