Lebanon’s progress to cultivate wealth from its offshore oil and gas resources has left us with more questions than answers. While the country will not extract any resources for at least five years, the agreements being negotiated in the next 12 months will determine whether Lebanon gets a good deal or not.
Over the course of five days, seven leading thinkers will discuss different aspects of the resources — from avoiding environmental destruction to how to spend the new wealth — each with the aim of helping provoke awareness about what is going on in this crucial period.
For our fourth segment, Ricardo Khoury argues early planning can protect Lebanon from environment catastophe.
The launching of the prequalification process for Lebanon’s first oil and gas licensing round is a significant step towards the development of hydrocarbon resources in the country. But while many topics are being discussed related to the offshore finds, little is being spoken about the potential environmental impacts of the sector.
While most people are concerned with the risks of major oil spills that could have devastating impacts on our shorelines — although our neighbors are probably more at risk than we are because currents will mostly drive spills towards the north — there are many other issues to be dealt with and that are more certain to occur in the event of major hydrocarbon finds.
So far although a strategic environmental assessment (SEA) study has been prepared, as required in Lebanon’s Offshore Petroleum Law as an environmental planning instrument, it has not yet been disclosed to the public. Not much is known about the results of the study and whether it has provided strategic inputs to guide environmental decisions early on in the sector’s development process.