Feud over gas licensing widens as groups quarrel over mechanism | Business , Lebanon | THE DAILY STAR
▻http://dailystar.com.lb/Business/Lebanon/2013/Oct-15/234678-feud-over-gas-licensing-widens-as-groups-quarrel-over-mechanism
Caretaker Health Minister Ali Hasan Khalil, a member of the Amal Movement’s political bureau, blasted caretaker Energy and Water Minister Gebran Bassil for refusing to put up for auction all 10 of Lebanon’s gas blocks off the coast.
Khalil also suggested that Bassil may have bowed to external pressure when he designated only five of the 10 blocks.
He further accused the energy minister of favoritism for starting an onshore gas survey in his hometown of Batroun, rather than another part of the country.
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Regarding the location of the selected fields, Khalil also questioned why Bassil refused to open gas blocks near the Israeli maritime border for auction, hinting that the minister may have heeded the advice of some foreign powers.
Lebanon and Israel are at loggerheads over an 850 kilometer area that contains a rich gas field in the Exclusive Economic Zone.
Oil firms have made it clear they are not willing to explore in the disputed territorial waters, according to Spectrum.
Pour en savoir plus sur les enjeux de l’appel d’offre en cours, voir aussi :
A leading company said Tuesday that international oil firms were not willing to explore for gas in the disputed territorial waters with Israel until the demarcation of this area was completed and voiced support for auctioning off all of Lebanon’s 10 blocks to the bidding companies. “International oil companies which are bidding for gas exploration in Lebanon are not ready to make any drilling in the disputed territorial water with Israel until the demarcation of this area has been completed,” the CEO of British-based company Spectrum, David Rowlands, told The Daily Star.
Read more : ▻http://dailystar.com.lb/Business/Lebanon/2013/Oct-09/234023-oil-firms-will-not-drill-in-disputed-zone-spectrum.ashx#ixzz2iA
(The Daily Star : : Lebanon News : : ►http://www.dailystar.com.lb)