Lebanon’s cabinet on 4 January finally approved two decrees necessary to open a bid round for acreage in the country’s offshore, marking the end of more than two years of stasis in the oil and gas sector (MEES, 31 July 2015). The country hopes to announce a bid round within six months.
The decrees delineate the number of blocks to be put on offer, set out tender procedures and establish the model to be used which will be in the form of production sharing contracts (PSC). The bid round was originally slated for August 2014, but the country’s political leaders only managed to agree on the compromise candidate General Michel Aoun and elect him president on 31 October last year, after the position had remained vacant since May 2014, amid sectarian squabbling. (CONTINUED - 383 WORDS)
