26 international firms interested in offshore oil

Bassil: disputes over territorial waters
should not delay drilling operations

Twenty six international companies have so far bought the data required for oil and gas drilling off Lebanon’s coast, the Minister of Energy and Water Gebran Bassil said. Many of the companies interested in bidding for drilling rights are US-based, he said.

According to Bassil, disputes over the maritime borders are not standing in the way of offshore drilling: “Drilling will be launched after the ‘Petroleum Regulatory Authority’ is appointed.” He said that the first member, out of the authority’s six-member board, has been announced.

A maritime demarcation committee has recently recommended revising Lebanon’s Exclusive Economic Zone prior to launching oil drilling activities off the coast. The committee was delegated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to examine the government’s options in light of disputes over territorial waters.

The Parliament ratified in August last year a law marking out the maritime border with Israel and Cyprus. The law had reclaimed a disputed area, around 854 square kilometers, from the southern side of the country’s coastal line. The reclaimed area, which had been overlooked by Lebanon in a previous delineation, is located within the borders of the zone Israel had marked out in July 2011.

Bassil said the disputes over territorial waters should not hamper the oil drilling: “Many countries have border disputes but still they have launched drilling operations, like Cyprus and Israel.”

Reported by Hanadi Chami