The ministry of energy has announced the companies that are qualified to submit bids in Lebanon's first offshore oil and gas licensing round, with contracts set to be signed in November. The qualified companies now total 51, including those that were greenlit during the first qualification round back in 2013.
The newly qualified companies include:
A full listing of qualified companies, including those from 2013, is available on the Lebanese Petroleum Administration's website.
At a press conference announcing the newly qualified companies the minister of energy, Cesar Abi Khalil, added that companies qualified in 2013 must updated their paperwork, including financial statements, to remain eligible to bid.
The minister also pointed out that ONGC Videsh, which had qualified in 2013 as a non-operator, was now qualified as an operator.
The qualified companies will next negotiate amongst each other to form consortiums that, by law, must be made up of no less than 3 companies, one of which must be an operator. The operating company leads on the day to day operations of exploration while non-operating companies only pay their share of exploration costs.
The consortiums will be able to bid on blocks 1, 4, 8, 9, and 10 in Lebanon's exclusive economic zone offshore. According to the roadmap set forth by the ministry of energy earlier this year consortiums are scheduled to submit their bids in September with the government awarding contracts in November.