Lebanon’s first ever exploratory drill operation has been delayed till mid-February due to complications involving a drill ship commissioned by Total, the company leading the drilling operation. 

Total heads up a consortium with Novatek and ENI that in 2018 signed contracts to drill in two Lebanese maritime zones, Block 4 off the coast of Beirut and southern Block 9.

The drill operation in Block 4 was first set to take place in December 2019, before being postponed to late January 2020 because the drill ship had suffered complications on a current mission in Egypt. 

“It is true that the drill ship will reach [the] Drilling location around mid February since the well in Egypt was more complicated than expected,” Ricardo Darré, General Manager of Total E&P Liban told LOGI.

But Darré said it was not a big issue. “In the time scale of an exploration campaign, 2 weeks is nothing,” he said. “By definition, in exploration drilling you move into the unknown and you can only do an ‘educated guess’ of what geology you will find and how long drilling is going to take.”

Once a well is drilled, there is a roughly 25 percent chance that the find will be commercially viable. Drilling in Block 9 is scheduled for the end of 2020.