17 August 2023; MEMO: Lebanon’s Minister of Works Ali Hamieh yesterday announced the arrival of an oil and gas exploration vessel in Block 9.
This came about ten months after Israel and Lebanon reached a US-brokered agreement to demarcate their maritime borders. The two sides discussed – through mediators – the issue of gas exploration in the Mediterranean.
In February 2018, Lebanon signed a contract with a consortium of oil companies led by Total Energies that includes the Italian Eni and the Russian Novatek, which later withdrew, to explore for oil and gas in its territorial waters.
Hamieh did not provide details about when the actual drilling in the area will begin.
