Lebanon President Presses for Resumption of Offshore Oil and Gas Exploration
Beirut, Lebanon - Lebanese President Joseph Aoun expressed his hope that TotalEnergies will soon resume oil and gas exploration off the coast of Lebanon during a meeting with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani on Tuesday, according to a statement from the President's office.
In 2023, state-owned QatarEnergy partnered with France's TotalEnergies and Italy's Eni in a consortium to conduct exploration in two maritime blocks off the Lebanese coast. However, exploratory drilling conducted that year did not yield any hydrocarbon discoveries.
TotalEnergies has yet to provide a response to a request for comment.
Lebanon has high hopes that potential gas and oil findings will aid in mitigating its severe economic crisis. However, drilling plans were temporarily halted until a ceasefire agreement put an end to the conflict between Israel and the militant Lebanese group Hezbollah late last year.
Reconstruction plans, which encompass oil and gas exploration, are contingent on the formation of a new Lebanese government following the election of Aoun in January, which filled the two-year presidential vacuum.