TotalEnergies announced on Wednesday the arrival of a platform off the Lebanese coast to begin drilling gas exploration wells at the end of the month, following an agreement that delimits the maritime border between Lebanon and Israel in this area. The two countries, technically in a state of war, had signed an agreement in October 2022 delimiting their maritime border after lengthy US mediation.
It allows Lebanon to begin exploration in “Block 9”, the site of the potential Cana field, part of which is in Israeli territorial waters, in exchange for payment to the State of Israel of compensation by the operating company.
The French hydrocarbons giant, its Italian partner Eni and Qatar Energy announced in May that they had signed a contract with Transocean Barents to use the drilling rig. In a press release, TotalEnergies announced “the arrival of the drilling rig (…) at Block 9, approximately 120 kilometers off the coast of Beirut.”
“Today a new page is written”
The first helicopter in charge of transferring the teams to this device also arrived at the Beirut airport, according to the French company. “The arrival of these rigs marks an important step in preparation for the drilling of the exploration well on Block 9, which will begin at the end of August 2023,” the statement read.
“Today a new page is being written. When the crew and logistics are ready in a few days, the drilling will begin,” Lebanese Energy Minister Walid Fayad said on the sidelines of his visit to the operation of the heliport on Wednesday. The results of the drilling will be known in two to three months, he added.
TotalEnergies had announced at the beginning of the year that the exploration process for Cana should be completed by the end of the year, at the end of a difficult process that should cost approximately 100 million dollars (that is, almost 92 million euros). The Lebanese authorities trust the presence of natural resources to face the economic crisis unleashed in 2019, described by the World Bank as one of the worst crises of modern times.
Analysts agree, however, that Beirut will take several years to enter the exploitation phase if a sufficient amount of gas is discovered to ensure profitability.
Source: BFM TV
