Oil drilling laws set

Executive decrees for oil drilling bill ready, interested bidders will soon receive requirement lists

The Cabinet approved on Wednesday (January 4) a set of executive decrees for implementing the law on oil excavation in the country’s territorial waters.

The recently adopted decrees address rules and regulations for all oil-related activities. They also deal with the formation of a regulatory body, made up of six members, to monitor the oil sector. The decrees include the financial and administrative regulations. They also organize employment in the sector.

Several companies have shown interest in bidding for oil drilling rights off the coast of Lebanon including the Kuwait Energy Company (KEC) and the British oil explorer, Cairn Energy.

The joint parliamentary committees tasked with discussing the oil and gas exploration file announced last November that the companies interested in obtaining licenses would be given the requirements’ lists during the first quarter of 2012.

“Our oil wealth is spread across our entire exclusive economic zone. It’s not limited to a certain area and there are no disputed areas,” said Minister of Energy and Water, Gebran Bassil, citing recent seismic surveys and analyses.

The Parliament had ratified in August 2011 a law that marked out Lebanon’s maritime border with Israel and Cyprus and its exclusive economic zone in the Mediterranean Sea. The law reclaimed a disputed area (around 854 square kilometers) from the southern side of the country’s coastal line. The reclaimed area is located within the borders of the zone Israel had marked out in July 2011.