Energy Minister Arthur Nazarian issued a decision on August 8, 2014,postponning the deadline to submit bids in Lebanon’s first licensing round from August 14, 2014, to a maximum period of six months from the date of the adoption of the two missing decrees related to block delineation, and the tender protocol and model exploration and production agreement (EPA) by the government. Frequent power vacuums within the executive branch (the country was run by a caretaker cabinet with limited powers for almost a year, from March 2013 until February 2014, and has been without a President since May 25, 2014) made it difficult to approve the two decrees. Yet, Lebanon’s seemingly high country risk at this point in time does not eclipse its substantial energy potential.

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