Instability scaring off some oil, gas bidders July 12, 2013 12:49 AM By Mohamad El Amin The Daily Star BEIRUT: As officials appeal to speed up the development of Lebanon’s nascent oil and gas industry, a source involved in the bidding process told The Daily Star that some of the firms which initially qualified have decided to withdraw from the next round. Political instability, security breaches and the possibility of Israel drawing off oil and gas resources from Lebanon’s reservoirs are proving major challenges in the country’s ongoing first licensing round. “There are a few companies that withdrew [from the round], others who are weighing options and others that lost a bit of interest,” the source said, declining to elaborate further. “Some companies had technical reasons, but of course the political and security situation played a major role.” The source declined to identify any firms and The Daily Star could not independently verify the claims. Fourteen international oil and gas companies qualified in April as operators while 38 qualified as nonoperators for the first licensing round. In addition to political and security problems, the Energy Ministry sounded last week alarm bells over Israel’s ability to siphon resources from Lebanon and has urged President Michel Sleiman and caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati to hold an urgent Cabinet session to pass two key decrees that enable the ministry to award oil and gas exploration contracts. The ministry’s concerns over potential Israeli attempts to exploit Lebanon’s wealth emerged after Noble Energy, a U.S.-based company working offshore Israel, announced in May a natural gas discovery named Karish, 32 kilometers northeast of the Tamar field, in very close proximity to Lebanon’s EEZ. Read more: dailystar.lb/Business/Lebanon/2013/Jul-12/223377-instability-scaring-off-some-oil-gas-bidders.ashx#ixzz2YrE2tC5h
Posted on: Fri, 12 Jul 2013 18:31:39 +0000
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