First Plane to Carry out Survey of Offshore Oil and Gas Arrives in Lebanon

The Ministry of Energy announced on Friday that the first plane tasked with carrying out an aerial survey of Lebanon's offshore gas and oil arrived in the country.

The plane arrived as part of an agreement between the Ministry and the GEOS Solutions LLC on January 10.

It will carry out the survey of land oil and gas wealth in the North and along the Lebanese shore.

The yellow Cessna 404 plane will begin its operations today.

A second plane is scheduled to arrive in Lebanon for a similar purpose, but at a later date.

In March 2010, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated a mean of 1.7 billion barrels of recoverable oil and a mean of 34.5 trillion cubic meters of recoverable gas in the Levant Basin in the eastern Mediterranean, which includes the territorial waters of Lebanon, Israel, Syria and Cyprus.

The U.S. had offered to mediate between the sides in an attempt to reach a solution.

Beirut argues that a maritime map it submitted to the U.N. is in line with an armistice accord drawn up in 1949, an agreement which is not contested by Israel.

The country's oil and gas wealth attracted around 46 Arab and international companies in the second pre-qualification round of the tenders process.

Only 12 companies will be awarded however.

M.T.

H.K.