Lebanon to conduct seismic studies on offshore block 8

Lebanon has granted a licence to a consortium of international companies to conduct seismic studies on its offshore oil and gas block 8, caretaker energy minister Walid Fayad said.

“Today is a historic day in a journey that started in 2010,” the state-owned National News Agency cited the minister as saying.

“There are major hopes pinned on this block 8, and it had not been possible to launch the survey prior to demarcating the border with Israel, something that took place last year,” Fayyad said.

• Drilling to begin on Lebanon’s block 9
• Lebanon’s caretaker PM says economic stability at stake

The names of the companies were not disclosed.

Exploratory drilling in offshore oil and gas block 9 was scheduled to commence on Thursday this week.

“After 67 days, we will know the results of this drilling. We hope it will bring good things for the Lebanese,” the minister said after meeting top executives of France’s TotalEnergies.

Lebanon hopes oil discoveries will help its moribund economy rebound. The government in February devalued the Lebanese currency by 90 percent as foreign currency reserves depleted.