{"id":3340,"date":"2023-01-29T15:04:36","date_gmt":"2023-01-29T15:04:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/roydadnaft.ir\/English\/?p=3340"},"modified":"2023-01-29T15:04:38","modified_gmt":"2023-01-29T15:04:38","slug":"totalenergies-says-well-drilling-in-lebanons-offshore-block-9-to-begin-in-q3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/roydadnaft.ir\/English\/3340\/","title":{"rendered":"TotalEnergies says well drilling in Lebanon’s offshore Block 9 to begin in Q3"},"content":{"rendered":"
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TotalEnergies\u00a0(TTEF.PA)\u00a0is keen to start work on Lebanon’s offshore Block 9 “as soon as possible”, with assessments to begin early next month and well-drilling to launch in the third quarter of 2023, its CEO Patrick Pouyanne said on Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pouyanne was speaking in a joint news conference in Beirut after signing a three-way\u00a0consortium deal\u00a0with QatarEnergy and Eni\u00a0(ENI.MI)\u00a0to explore oil and gas in two maritime blocks off the coast of Lebanon known as Blocks 4 and 9.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following months of talks, QatarEnergy has taken a 30% stake in the consortium, leaving TotalEnergies and Eni with 35% each.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lebanon hopes discoveries will help it reverse a crippling economic crisis that has cost the local currency more than 97% of its value, eroded the country’s foreign reserves and caused rolling blackouts across towns and cities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pouyanne said a vessel would arrive in Lebanese waters on Feb. 6 to carry out an environmental survey in Block 9, “and we plan to drill during the third quarter of the year”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The CEO of Eni, Claudio Descalzi, said the exploration could offer a “big opportunity” for Lebanon as the world was facing a major lack of gas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“From a geological point of view, I am positive” about a discovery in Lebanon’s Block 9, Descalzi told reporters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We have to hope and pray that it is a real and material one,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pouyanne and Qatar’s energy minister Saad al-Kaabi, also the CEO of QatarEnergy, said they were discussing possible coordination on renewable energy in Lebanon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lebanon’s first licensing round in 2017 saw a consortium of TotalEnergies, Eni and Russia’s Novatek win bids to explore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Novatek pulled out in September 2022, leaving its stake in the hands of the Lebanese government. The following month, Lebanon and Israel agreed to a landmark agreement brokered by the United States to delineate their long-disputed maritime border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Block 9 lies adjacent to the newly delineated border with Israel. According to the agreement, if discoveries are made in a field that extends south of that border, they would also be exploited by the consortium on behalf of Lebanon but with a royalties system set up for Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Total and Israel have agreed a separate deal for any revenues generated from there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pouyanne said the maritime border agreement had ended the “deadlock” facing exploration activities in Block 9.<\/p>\n

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