The Lebanese Center for Policy Studies (LCPS) and the Lebanese Petroleum Administration (LPA), in collaboration with the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), organized a two-day workshop entitled “Governing the Oil and Gas Sector” to discuss the challenges and opportunities brought forth by the potential discovery of oil and gas reserves in Lebanon. The aim of the workshop was twofold: the first was to present and discuss the first drafts of six policy papers, commissioned to experts and scholars, that highlight the challenges and opportunities in the fields of institutional structures, domestic energy needs, gas export options, macroeconomic implications of revenues, revenue management and geological features of the Levant basin. The second aim was to identify additional challenges that LCPS and LPA could address going forward. The workshop, which was attended by government officials, experts, scholars, and civil society members, took place on June 19-20, 2014 at Gefinor Rotana Hotel, Beirut, Lebanon.
Following introductions by Mr. Sami Atallah, Executive Director of LCPS, Mr. Nasser Hoteit, President of the Board and Head of Technical and Engineering Department of LPA, and Ms. Roula El-Rifai, Senior Program Specialist at IDRC, the workshop was divided into the following seven sessions: