Lebanon Extends Deadline for Gas Exploration Bids

Lebanon has extended the deadline for submission of bids to explore for gas from Nov. 4 to Dec. 10 after the Cabinet missed a deadline to pass two important decrees to demarcate the gas blocks, Daily Star Lebanon reported.

Caretaker Energy and Water Minister Gebran Bassil said the offshore gas blocks 1, 4, 5, 6 and 9 would be opened for bidding once the Cabinet held a session to pass the two decrees.

“If the decrees are not issued before November of this year, then we will extend the date to offer the bids. If the decrees are passed before November then the bidding will be held in this month,” Bassil said.

According to The Daily Star some of the oil companies that were approved in the earlier prequalification round have pulled out due to the delay in progress to the first round of bidding.

A senior oil sector executive told The Daily Star earlier that the delay in issuing the decrees had affected Lebanon’s credibility, noting that some of the firms might not be willing to bid at this point even if a new Cabinet was formed.