Lebanon’s fledgling cabinet has this week formed a committee tasked with studying the two oil and gas decrees that must be enacted before the country proceeds with its much-delayed first bid round for rights to explore offshore blocks for hydrocarbons.

This is but the latest in a series of setbacks for Lebanon’s offshore oil and gas drive. Though the government has yet to officially push back the 10 April deadline for companies to submit their bids, the cutoff date will pass unheeded. Lebanon’s Ministry of Energy will set the final deadline to a date three months after the eventual approval of the two decrees – one of which sets fiscal terms, while the other delineates 10 offshore blocks (MEES, 28 March). (CONTINUED - 378 WORDS)