Cabinet has failed to endorse a law for onshore oil and gas exploration for a second straight month, far surpassing a one-month deadline set by Parliament on March 7.

A source at Cabinet’s Secretariat-general told LOGI that the law was transferred to Cabinet on March 11, and a ministerial committee to study the draft law had been formed on March 21. That committee has not yet completed studying the law.

Speaker Nabih Berri during a March 7 session of Parliament gave Cabinet one month for further study of the law, upon the request of Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil.

First submitted to parliament in 2017, the law would regulate the exploration and production of hydrocarbons on Lebanese land territory.

LOGI has submitted a number of concerns and recommendations on the law. The recommendations will be discussed in detail and endorsed during a closed experts meeting next month. 

Photo source: Al Jazeera website.