High probability of finding oil and gas reserves in Lebanon next year, claims former PM

DUBAI: There is “high probability” of finding oil and gas reserves in Lebanon by early 2020, according to the country’s former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.

Although Siniora said “nobody knows whether we have proven reserves,” in an interview with UAE’s WAM, he hoped exploration companies would “extract something” in January.

His comments come a year after Lebanon, which has limited natural resources, signed its first offshore oil and gas exploration contracts in 2018 with three major energy companies – France’s Total, Italy’s Eni, and Russia’s Novatek.

Siniora said exploration companies carried out studies and analysis of the area before investing in Lebanon.

Siniora explained the fact they invested money means the results of the studies were “positive.”

Meanwhile local media reports showed a document from Lebanese Petroleum Administration, a regulatory body in the country’s oil and gas sector, indicating “potential” oil and gas source rocks in the Levant basin, according to WAM.

If the ventures succeed, it would take six to seven years to see its impact on Lebanon’s economy, Siniora explained.