According to Interim Prime Minister Najib Miqati, the Lebanese state has finalized the border deal with Tel Aviv after more than two years of indirect talks and has already started the exploration process for block number nine in the Qana field.
In this sense, the head of government emphasized that the companies responsible for this will drill an exploration well in 2023, “and if the exploration results are positive, the confidence factor in the markets will be strengthened”.
Speaking at the Beirut Arab Economic Forum, Miqati pointed out that gas exploration will bring economic benefits to Lebanon by attracting foreign investors, creating jobs and improving government revenues when hydrocarbon resources are marketable.
In this sense, the Lebanese authority envisioned a recovery of the sector in the country that will reduce the energy deficit, strengthen the international position and contribute to economic salvation.
In front of more than 400 national figures and around 30 countries present at the forum, the Lebanese Prime Minister pointed out that the accelerated exploration process and, in the case of commercial volumes, the development of the field at top speed will mean the delivery of natural gas to the local market.
He recognized that the phase will require the private sector to play an important role in the financing process and in building natural gas infrastructure that will contribute to the development of national industries.
In order to obtain optimal results and maximum benefit from the rational management of natural resources, Miqati insisted that it was necessary to monitor all segments from the initial exploration phases and later in the development, extraction and production phases.
The head of the Cabinet of Ministers pointed out that improving the quality of goods and services required by international oil companies will affect the preservation of the sector, giving priority to environmental protection, public health and safety.
Lebanon and Israel on October 27 separately handed US mediator Amos Hochstein and United Nations representative here Joanna Wronecka the memorandum of understanding on the determination of the maritime border in the south.
The Lebanese national position stressed that the country had not entered into any kind of normalization with Tel Aviv and had obtained its rights to the Qana field without sharing wealth or paying any compensation to its counterpart.
In mid-November, the French company TotalEnergies and its Italian partner ENI started exploration activities for gas in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Lebanon with the aim of completing drilling as soon as possible in 2023.
In this regard, Lebanese economist Ziad Nasreddine assured that the issue of oil and gas is related not only to demarcation of the border with Israel, but to strengthening and establishing the rights of Lebanon based on the main equation of breaking the blockade. from the United States.
According to the energy issues expert, Washington has for years banned European companies from exploring, extracting, exporting or selling in Lebanese waters in a bid to impede a process that is the main factor in reversing the country’s economic collapse.
ro/yma