Lebanon’s Council of Ministers on 23 October approved the award of offshore Block 8 to a consortium of European majors TotalEnergies and Eni alongside Gulf NOC QatarEnergy. An official award is a mere formality now. The consortium, which is led by Total as operator, also holds Block 9 to the southeast and had initially expressed interest for Block 8 and the nearshore Block 10 in October 2023, but pulled back amid the growing conflict in the region (MEES, 23 February 2024).
The partners drilled the Qana well in Block 9 in 2023, which was the country’s second ever offshore well, but as with the first, this flopped (MEES, 20 October 2023). (CONTINUED - 175 WORDS)