Energy and Water Minister Cesar Abi Khalil said on Friday that Lebanon will start exploratory drilling off the Lebanese coast in 2019, as the country hopes to find resources to shore up its indebted economy.
In a press interview Abi Khalil said granting licenses for oil exploration “is an economic benefit for the country that will create new job opportunities and it is going to secure a local source for energy."
Lebanon's economy is mired in debt and struggling to grow as the civil war in neighboring Syria stretches into its seventh year. The conflict has paralyzed trade and pushed some one million refugees into Lebanon.
The country has been slow to capitalize on geological survey findings from 2011 indicating a strong possibility of mineral resources in its offshore waters. Its government has been crippled by political deadlock emanating from the crisis in Syria as parties butt heads over taking sides in the war.
It is not certain whether companies will find reserves in Lebanese waters. But a bid, accepted by the Lebanese government on Thursday, by a consortium of international oil and gas giants to explore two sectors in the eastern Mediterranean reflected the potential for a windfall, said Mona Sukkarieh, a political risk analyst at the Beirut-based consultancy group Middle East Strategic Perspectives.
"If they choose to proceed with exploration and drilling, then we are talking about a lot of money," said Sukkarieh.