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Lebanon prequalifies 8 more companies for offshore round

The Ministry of Energy and Water of Lebanon has pre-qualified eight additional companies to bid in its first oil and gas licensing round including five offshore blocks (blocks 1, 4, 8, 9 and 10).



Indian oil company ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) was pre-qualified to bid as an operator, while the other pre-qualified companies are Lukoil, Qatar Petroleum, Novatek, Petropars, Sonatrach, New Age African Global Energy and SapuraKencana.



Three of the five blocks included in the licensing round are located near Israeli maritime borders, where large gas fields have been discovered since 2009. Lebanon, which is estimated to hold at least 95 tcf (nearly 2,700 bcm) of gas and 750 mbl of oil in its territorial waters, is seeking to develop a domestic oil and gas industry. However, political troubles have delayed the licensing process for three years.



In 2013, 43 companies - including Chevron, ExxonMobil and Total - qualified to take part in an oil and gas tender, which was delayed several times after the cabinet failed to pass decrees. Pre-qualified companies will have to submit their bids to the Lebanese Petroleum Administration by 15 September 2017 and approval is expected in late October 2017.