Natural Gas Europe was pleased to have the opportunity to conduct an interview with H.E. Eng. Gebran Bassil, Lebanese Minister of Energy & Water.
NGE: Have investors lost confidence because of delays in launching Lebanon’s first offshore licensing round?
GB: Despite the various delays in the licensing round, investors should not lose confidence. The process will commence and a tender will happen. There is a new date to look forward to as the licensing round is now set to be opened on 10 January 2014. If substantial interest is shown by international oil and gas companies, then we will move ahead with the process to award contracts and begin exploration activities.
NGE: Should investors be fearing further delays in the bidding round?
GB: The previous delays were caused by political discords. If further delays should occur, this time they would be technical instead.