Natural Gas Europe was pleased to have the opportunity to discuss developments in Lebanon'shydrocarbon sector with Dr Carole Nakhle. Dr. Nakle is an Energy Economist at the Surrey Energy Economics Centre in the UK specialising in international petroleum fiscal regimes, world oil and gas market developments, and energy policy.
Can you give me an estimate of the overall resources offshore Lebanon?
We don't have a specific figure yet. First numbers range between 12 and 25 tcf. We have to bare in mind these are very uncertain figures. When we talk about resources, we don't know how much will be technically and more importantly economically recoverable. It all depends on the costs and the prices that investors will get. The Aphrodite field inCyprus for example was discovered in 2011 but to date it has not been declared commercial yet. As for the Lebanon, we should wait for exploration to start, discoveries to be made then assessed first before putting a value on the gas reserves.