The Ministry of Energy and Water announced today that it has received applications from ten oil companies seeking permits to operate within the country’s territorial waters. In addition, nine international companies have presented bids to carry out land oil exploration in the country, the ministry declared. It said that it will select the most suitable candidate during February. The contestants have been divided into three categories, depending on their expertise. “We will strive to select the least costly,” the ministery said.. It said that land oil exploration started in Lebanon since the 1960s, “and some say as early as 1900.” It pointed to six areas in the Bekaa and the south where failed oil explorations had taken place in the past. However, now, with the advances in technology, pinpointing the location and quantities of oil buried in the ground has become more accurate and less costly, he said. “The selected company will determine the locations where the exploration will take place,” he said. “Lebanon is determined to become an oil producing country.”