Qatar is in talks to join a consortium comprising French TotalEnergies and Italian Eni to participate in a project to develop oil and gas fields in Lebanon's exclusive economic zone. Qatar Minister of State for Energy and CEO of QatarEnergy Saad bin Sharida al-Kaabi said this on Sunday in Doha, Al Jazeera reported.
"We are in contact with the Lebanese government and expect to get a 30% stake in the development of Blocks 4 and 9, located in the Mediterranean Sea shelf," he stressed. - "As soon as the deal enters the final stage and the agreement is signed, we will announce it".
Qatar's interest in getting involved in offshore gas exploration and production became known in September, when Acting Minister of Energy and Water Affairs of Lebanon Walid Fayyad announced the withdrawal of the Russian company Novatek from the consortium.
On October 14, the head of QatarEnergy announced the company's plans not only to take over a minority stake in Russia's Novatek (20%) but also to increase it by 10% by getting the French and Italians to agree.
On October 27, Lebanon and Israel signed an agreement to demarcate the maritime border, paving the way for the development of hydrocarbon reserves in the Exclusive Economic Zone. At a meeting with Lebanese President Michel Aoun, Laurent Vivier, Director of TotalEnergies' Middle East branch, suggested that his company could begin exploratory drilling in Block 9 in the second quarter of 2023.
According to a study by French experts, the potential reserves of the Lebanese shelf could amount to 700 billion cubic meters of gas.
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Based on materials from TASS