On January 26th 2016 Lebanon's Minister of Energy and Water, Cesar Abi Khalil, re-launched his country's first oil and gas licensing round.

This development followed the approval on January 4th by the Lebanese cabinet of two crucial decrees necessary for oil and gas exploration to go ahead. The first decree delineated the Lebanese offshore area into 10 blocks and the second set the tender protocol and the model exploration and production agreement (EPA) to be signed between the Lebanese Government and the successful bidders.

Mr Cesar Abi Kalil announced that blocks 1, 4, 8, 9 and 10 would make up the first round with pre-qualification opening briefly from February 2nd to March 31st. Companies already pre-qualified will automatically be re-entered into this round. The bid round itself will close on September 15th, with awards expected by November 15th.

Companies are also invited to attend a Consultation Workshop in Beirut on 23rd February 2017. The consultation workshop will tackle topics related to Lebanon's legislative framework put in place, the tender process, the model agreement and Lebanon's offshore geological features, amongst other subjects. The agenda for the Consultation Workshop can be obtained from:

[Attachment]http://www.lpa.gov.lb/pdf/IOCs_Agenda.pdf

Authorized representatives of oil and gas companies may register for the event at: http://www.lpa.gov.lb/register.php

The Exploration Taxation Law and the onshore Exploration Law were also discussed at the January 4th meeting. Both of which are expected to be delivered to the Lebanese Parliament within the next month. A ministerial committee has been formed, consisting of the Prime Minister, Minister of Energy and Minister of Finance, charged with finalising the draft texts of the laws.

Spectrum's extensive 2D and 3D seismic data shows that offshore Lebanon may have substantial hydrocarbon resources and a recent study by the Lebanese Petroleum Administration (LPA) provides further compelling evidence in support of this.

Offshore Lebanon lies in the extension of the prolific South Levant basin which contains the giant gas fields of Tamar and Leviathan. 30 TCF of gas lies in accumulations that run up to the border; however offshore Lebanon has never been drilled.

The proven deep water play in the south has been established in massive sands of Early Miocene age. The recent Zohr discovery of gas in Early Cretaceous carbonates north of the Nile is further support that sands were transported to the area pouring into and filling the basin offshore Lebanon.

Intriguingly the Northern Levantine Basin is deeper than the southern part of the basin source rock is buried deep enough to mature oil, making this potentially the most exciting part of the Eastern Mediterranean for exploration.

For more information on the prospectivity offshore Lebanon and seismic data available please contact Spectrum.

Spectrum ASA published this content on 06 February 2017 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein.
Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 06 February 2017 15:02:10 UTC.

Original documenthttp://www.spectrumgeo.com/press-release/lebanon-announces-re-opening-first-license-round

Public permalinkhttp://www.publicnow.com/view/0E844241BC88742AD55D9752E5948B238C06DE62