Seismic surveys of Mediterranean waters off Lebanon's southern coast suggest they contain

12 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, Energy and Water Minister Gebran Bassil said on Monday.

"Preliminary estimates are 12 trillion cubic feet ... in an area of 3,000 square kilometres,"

Bassil told reporters.  "That's enough (gas) to make electricity for Lebanon for 99 years."

Interest in drilling in the eastern Mediterranean has grown since two natural gas fields were

discovered off Israel, Lebanon's southern neighbour.

The larger of those fields, Leviathan, has  estimated reserves of 17 trillion cubic feet and their

value is put at tens of billions of dollars.....continue reading