Bassil to Kick Off Oil and Gas Tenders Eventually, Rejects Risking Country's Offshore Wealth
Caretaker Energy Minister Jebran Bassil said on Wednesday that he will eventually kick off the oil and gas tenders even without the caretaker cabinet's approval of the two decrees essential to award the oil blocks for oil companies.
However, Bassil didn't rule out in comments published in As Safir newspaper that the tenders, which are set for January 10, 2014, might be postponed for the third time if the oil companies failed to present their documents.
“Oil exploration process will not be crippled,” Bassil stressed, saying that the priority at this stage is for the cabinet to convene to approve the two decrees and determine the oil blocks.
The decrees call for demarcating 10 maritime oil exploration blocks and setting up a revenue-sharing model.
However the main point of contention remains caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati's rejection to hold a session for the cabinet, which he argues that it requires a unanimous political agreement, adding that a caretaker cabinet can't approve non-essential decrees.
However, Speaker Nabih Berri and Bassil call for the caretaker to hold an extraordinary session to approve the two decrees and guarantee Lebanon's rights.
Bassil postponed in October for the second time the oil and gas tenders to January 10, 2014 after the cabinet failed once again to convene to approve the two decrees.
But Bassil told As Safir that the Lebanese state “shouldn't wait for the companies to lose their interest or until Israel goes ahead with its deals.”
“If the oil companies presented their documents we will kick off the oil and gas tenders even without the two oil decrees,” Bassil added.
Asked about the risks he's taking if such a move was taken, the caretaker minister listed two reasons.
The first would be challenging the issue and the second the companies failure to attend the tenders.
“The political repercussions of such a move are far less than risking the country's oil,” Bassil said, wondering “why would Lebanon want to miss such an opportunity.”
The country's oil and gas wealth attracted around 46 Arab and international companies in the second pre-qualification round of the tenders process.
Acute discord among Lebanese officials is also delaying the awarding of 10 of the oil blocks as Berri is calling for the assigning of the 10 offshore blocks for oil exploration at once.
Bassil told the newspaper that the companies are interested in blocks 1, 2, 4, 5, 6 and 9, which are already scanned and the Lebanese state have exact information about them.
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