It faces maritime border disputes, regional rivals and is surrounded by a country engulfed in

civil war. Yet the main challenge to Lebanon’s potential gas sector is not geopolitics,

according to analysts, but a lack of political consensus.

The tiny Mediterranean country could have almost 100tn cubic feet (tcf) of offshore gas

reserves, according to some officials. But rather than exploit a potentially transformative

opportunity, politicians have engaged in politics as usual — bickering and stalling as

neighbouring Syria’s war worsens an already toxic sectarian environment.

“Politicians are definitely not in the mood for a grand bargain,” says Ayham Kamel, director

for the Middle East and north Africa at Eurasia Group, the risk consultancy. Still, he expects

some progress, even if halting, within two to five years................continue reading