Dec 27 Lebanon will seek bids from Feb. 1 from companies wanting to pre-qualify for oil and gas exploration drilling in its Mediterranean waters and has set a May 2 date for formal applications, a government spokesman said.
Seismic surveys of Lebanon's waters suggest they contain several trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Energy and Water Minister Gebran Bassil said in September that one southern bloc alone could hold 12 trillion cubic feet and this was enough gas to produce electricity for Lebanon for 99 years.