TotalEnergies readies for drilling in Lebanese waters

French company TotalEnergies is speeding up preparations for exploratory drilling in the Sidon-Qana gas field, following the Israel-Lebanon maritime border agreement, which has yet to be finally approved. Senior executives of TotalEnergies told Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun about their plans at a recent meeting.

During the meeting, the TotalEnergies executives said that they planned exploratory drilling throughout the area of the Block 9 concession awarded to the company in 2018. The Sidon-Qana field extends beneath the southern economic waters and beyond line 23 into Israel’s economic waters. The agreement between Israel and Lebanon stipulates that Israel will allow drilling if it is required in its economic waters.

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Aoun stressed his continued opposition to the line of security buoys. “We will never agree to this line, and the agreement does not alter our position,” he said.

Next week the US mediator Amos Hochstein will visit Lebanon with the final draft of the agreement. As “Globes” revealed last week, Lebanon has received assurances of particularly generous international aid after the signing of the agreement, which has so far been delayed due to Hezbollah’s involvement in the political decision-making agenda, and also due to corruption, and the government’s lack of ability to carry out required reforms.

Preparations have already begun at UN headquarters at Nakura on the Israel-Lebanon border for the signing of the agreement on October 26. The Lebanese have not agreed to a joint signing ceremony and so the agreement will be signed in separate rooms. The agreement will likely be signed by senior officials rather than political figures. The UN preparations are moving ahead although it is still unclear what the final procedures for the approval of the agreement in Israel will be. The Supreme Court will decide today on the petitions regarding whether approval of the agreement needs a Knesset vote or even a referendum.

Sources have informed “Globes” that after the signing ceremony in Nakura, if it actually takes place, large international energy companies including Chevron and Noble Energy, will visit Lebanon to discuss embarking on oil and gas exploration activities in Lebanese maritime waters. According to US sources, these companies will be awarded preferential treatment regarding exploration rights.

In the US, criticism has been directed at Amos Hochstein’s involvement in Israel-Lebanon mediation after he has served as a lobbyist for energy companies. As far as is known, Hochstein has been a senior advisor to US President Joe Biden on energy issues and has been paid an annual salary of hundreds of thousands of dollars by the White House.

Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on October 20, 2022.

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