Category Archives: Offshore

Jordan Blum, Houston Chronicle

The Ensco 8501 semi-submersible rig is seen in the Gulf of Mexico, 70 miles southeast of Louisiana, where it is about to begin drilling a bypass well for Noble Energy. Obama administration officials toured the 2.5-year-old rig on Wednesday. Jennifer A. Dlouhy / Houston Chronicle

The Ensco 8501 semi-submersible rig is seen in the Gulf of Mexico, 70 miles southeast of Louisiana, where it is about to begin drilling a bypass well for Noble Energy. Obama administration officials toured the

Ensco, which has many shallow-water jack-up rigs, says it doesn't have much overlap with Atwood Oceanics.

Ensco, which has many shallow-water jack-up rigs, says it doesn't have much overlap with Atwood Oceanics.

The main deck of the ENSCO 8505 is 97 feet high; the derrick is another 201 feet. The main deck tower Is more than six stories above the dock level. April 11, 2012

The main deck of the ENSCO 8505 is 97 feet high; the derrick is another 201 feet. The main deck tower Is more than six stories above the dock level. April 11, 2012

ENSCO DS6 Drillship taking on fuel bunkers in Walvis Bay, Namibia during the transit to Angola and start of contract with BP.

ENSCO DS6 Drillship taking on fuel bunkers in Walvis Bay, Namibia during the transit to Angola and start of contract with BP.

Ensco leads way as offshore drilling bottoms out

The struggling offshore energy sector may have finally bottomed out, analysts said, with Ensco leading the rebound by winning several new West African drilling contracts.

Lond0n-based Ensco, which has its operational headquarters in Houston, said it won deepwater drilling contracts with "Big Oil" giants like Chevron, Royal Dutch Shell and Paris-based Total offshore of Nigeria and the Ivory Coast.

"We believe that this new work positions us well for follow-on opportunities, benefiting future utilization for our rig fleet," said Ensco CEO Carl Trowell.

Ensco also is leading in industry consolidation with its pending acquisition of Houston's Atwood Oceanics, another deepwater drilling player.

Ian Macpherson, an analyst at the investment bank Piper Jaffray & Co., said the news supports a "bottoming thesis" for what's proving to be a more "resilient-than-expected" offshore sector that will still continue to struggle for the foreseeable future.

Houston energy investment banking firm Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. called it the first encouraging sign for ultra-deepwater rig demand "in a long while." It's an encouraging sign that major players like Chevron and Shell have figured out ways to reduce costs enough to start moving forward with some deepwater projects, especially in historically expensive offshore Nigeria.

On the flip side, these projects are still few and far between and the rig contractors likely are giving deep discounts to win work, the firm added.

In terms of details, Ensco said it's reactivating a drillship in August to work offshore of Nigeria for Chevron on a two-year contract. Likewise, another rig idled since last year will drill for Total offshore of the Ivory Coast starting in November.

Lastly, Ensco is moving up the construction timeline for a brand-new floating rig so it can go to work for Shell early next year offshore of Nigeria.

These new Ensco contracts are positive news and show the deepwater drilling market may have stopped sinking, if not showing small signs of recovering, said James West, an analyst at investment bank Evercore ISI in New York. Apart from low oil prices, geopolitical disputes also have stalled energy production in Nigeria and these deals indicate Africa's largest nation is moving forward, West added.

It's also a particularly good week for Ensco because Houston's Talos Energy announced a "historic oil discovery" offshore of Mexico using an Ensco floating drilling rig. Talos' Zama-1 well is the first offshore exploration well drilled by a private company in Mexico's history.

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Ensco leads way as offshore drilling bottoms out - Chron.com

Exxon adds 2.8 million acres offshore

Exxon Mobil has added 2.8 million acres to its portfolio in the South American Guyana-Suriname Basin, off the coast of Surinames capital, Paramaribo.

The company announced on Thursday it signed a production-sharing contract with the national oil company of Suriname to develop block 59, in water as deep as 12,000 feet.

RELATED: WoodMac chief says not to count out deep-water drilling

It is Exxons first foray into Suriname waters. The Irving-based oil giant, however, operates three neighboring blocks off the coast of Guyana, including the huge Liza field Exxon discovered in 2015.

Steve Greenlee, president of ExxonMobil Exploration Company, praised the deal and said the company looks forward to evaluating its potential.

Exxon is partnering with New York exploration and production company Hess Corp. and the Norwegian oil major Statoil in the deal. Each hold a third of the interest in the block, but Exxon is operating the endeavor.

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Exxon adds 2.8 million acres offshore - Houston Chronicle - Chron.com

Offshore wind could be subsidy-free in the UK before 2040, according to the most ambitious scenario The report sets out four pathway scenarios of varying ambition for the UK's energy future to 2050. In its most ambitious pathway, named two degrees, National Grid suggests offshore wind may reach a subsidy-free level.

"The majority of growth is seen in offshore wind, which, as a less mature technology, has greater potential for further cost reductions.

"Offshore wind currently receives support through the contracts for difference mechanism, however two degrees assumes considerable offshore build without subsidy, reflecting falling costs," the report stated.

The two degrees scenario shows the cost optimal pathway to meet the UK's 2050 carbon emissions reduction target.

"All scenarios anticipate a growth in wind capacity, from approximately 15GW in 2016 to 26GW in 'steady state' [least ambitious pathway] and just less than 50GW in 'two degrees' by 2040," the report adds.

"Both onshore and offshore wind experience continued technological improvements, associated cost reductions, and new opportunities to co-locate assets with storage, all of which leads to growth," according to National Grid.

With the addition of wind on the system, National Grid recognised the growing importance of storage and balancing systems.

"As traditional sources of energy supply are replaced by new ones, and demand becomes more dynamic, the energy system will be more complex to manage. Responsive balancing products and services will be needed to deliver flexibility across both the electricity and gas systems," the report states.

The report also finds the UK's energy demand is set to increase beyond 2030, as the growth of electric vehicles increases.

Trade body RenewableUK said that growth in demand should and could be met by renewables.

"The surge in electricity demand envisaged by National Grid to power electric vehicles will need to be met by a wide range of clean sources, including onshore and offshore wind, wave and tidal energy, if we're to meet our carbon reduction commitments and deliver the modern energy system that consumers need," said RenewableUK executive director Emma Pinchbeck.

"It's worth noting that National Grid's new two degrees scenario is the only one in which the UK's vital carbon reduction goals are met. This could be more ambitious, as the Paris Agreement aims to limit the global temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees," Pinchbeck added.

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National Grid sees subsidy-free offshore wind by 2040 | Windpower ... - Windpower Monthly (subscription)

Ampelmanns A-Type gangway links offshore service vessels to production platforms

Ampelmann and Uptime International have won contracts for their gangway walk-to-work solutions in offshore gas and renewables markets. Ampelmann secured a contract in Venezuela that will spread the use of its gangway technology into the Caribbean.

The Cardon IV group ordered an A-type system for its operations on the Perla fieldoff Venezuela. The walk-to-work system was deployed on Bumi Armadas 2010-built offshore support vessel Armada Tuah 85 to provide access for the workforce to the Perla platform.

The A-type system is a full active motion compensated access gangway, designed to transfer personnel safely and efficiently to offshore structures. Cardon IV has chosen Ampelmann as its partner in this long-term project for the next two years, said Ampelmann business development manager for Latin America Andres Garcia.

Uptime International has won a contract from Cemre Marin to deliver one of its walk-to-work systems to a service operation vessel that is being built at the Cemre Shipyard in Turkey. The vessel is being built for French vessel owner Louis Dreyfus Armateurs for delivery in 2018.

The vessel will provide service support for four offshore windfarms off the German coast. These are the Borkum Riffgrund 1 and 2 and Gode Wind 1 and 2 windfarms operated by Dong Energy.

The Uptime system will be an active motion compensated gangway and an adjustable pedestal integrated with an elevator tower. The vessel was designed by Salt Ship Design for personnel and cargo transfer to these offshore windfarms.

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Gangways ordered for offshore gas and windfarm support vessels - OSJ Magazine

The Federal Government just spent three years painstakingly assessing the nations offshore drilling policies, following the dictates of the law governing management of our public coastal waters. The previous administration conducted a thorough analysis of the benefits and risks, while receiving extensive input from industry, potentially impacted communities and businesses, and the public at large. That process revealed a massive groundswell of public opposition to expanded drilling off our coasts, as well as significant scientific and economic data showing that opening drilling into frontier areas is not in the public interest.

And yet, just a few months later, President Trumps Interior Department (DOI) is looking to scrap that plan and start again. On July 3rd, the Department of the Interior at the behest of oil and gas companiesissued a Request for Information on offshore oil and gas leasing, initiating a redundant, multi-year process to expand drilling off our coasts.

The Department of the Interior evaluated drilling in the Arctics Beaufort and Chukchi Seas, as well the Atlantic Ocean when it began the process several years ago, and ultimately determined it was a bad call. The Arctic is pristinetheres never been oil production in its federal offshore waters despite an expensive and catastrophic attempt at exploration by the oil major Shell in 2012. It supports iconic wildlife, including polar bears, whales, and all sorts of seal species, which, in turn, support the subsistence lifestyle of the northernmost Alaskan Native tribes. Similarly, the Atlantic Ocean has been off the table for drilling for more than 30 years, supports incredibly rich marine ecosystems, and is a primary economic driver for hundreds of communities up and down the coast. All of this would be at risk of devastation if those oceans were drilled and oil were to spill. As leaders of the bipartisan National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling wrote last week in the New York Times, drilling in the outer continental shelf remains risky business.

DOI ultimately removed Arctic and Atlantic lease sales from consideration in part thanks to overwhelming public opposition and instead President Obama opted to permanently protect the vast majority of the Arctic and 31 Atlantic deep sea canyons from all future drilling. Removing these areas reflected the publics preference for preservation over exploitation with Americans submitting more than 1.4 million comments opposing drilling; their elected representatives repeatedly calling on President Obama to protect their coasts; businesses and municipalities declaring their opposition to drilling and seismic testing; and a host of environmental, Latino, conservation,faith-based leaders, and veterans organizations urging the President to steer our offshore energy policy forward.

This recent history is repeating itself, and then some.

Communities immediately rallied upon the release of Trumps executive order to expand offshore oil and gas production; they came together again around the annual Hands Across the Sand event; and Members of Congress and Senators have introduced a number of bills to prevent drilling off their coasts. Bipartisan opposition is growing, and Governors are weighing in strongly as well. These coastal leaders are taking a stand and protecting their communities economies and way of life:

Similarly, editorial boards up and down the Atlantic coast have taken firm stances against expanded drilling. These are just a few examples:

The engagement of leaders across the political spectrum, and the editorial boards that reflect their communities voices, is strong evidence that attempts to open our coasts will be met with a fight. The communities, people and businesses that rely on healthy coasts will defend their way of life against the federal governments shameful readiness to put oil industry profits over people yet again.

Senior Advocate, Oceans Program

Director, Beyond Oil Initiative

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Opposition to Offshore Drilling Comes in Bipartisan Wave | NRDC - Natural Resources Defense Council

Latest Articles

The move follows a similar deal that Apple struck with Rome in late 2015, and comes as Europe wrestles with how much tax Silicon Valley companies should pay overseas.

By MARK SCOTT

There is wide accord that the current system encourages companies to keep money abroad. The question is how to tax funds brought home, now and in the future.

By PATRICIA COHEN

An inquiry by the New York attorney general found that from 2004 to 2009, Harbert paid no state taxes on profits generated by the hedge fund then managed by Philip Falcone.

By MATTHEW GOLDSTEIN

Greedy rulers around the world steal billions, disguise it and stash it in the West.

By OLIVER BULLOUGH

The trial announcement came after reports that UBS had rejected a settlement in the investigation about whether it helped French clients evade taxes.

By CHAD BRAY

The report outlines a strategy for bringing home billions of dollars from offshore affiliates while avoiding federal income taxes on the earnings.

By JESSE DRUCKER

Both political parties have good reasons to favor this policy.

By ALAN AUERBACH and MICHAEL DEVEREUX

Caterpillar has been dogged by accusations that it reduced its domestic tax bill by shifting profits from the United States to a subsidiary in Switzerland.

By HIROKO TABUCHI

Corporate boards and executives are likely to use much of the cash to acquire businesses in the United States, to buy back their own stock or to pay down debt.

By LESLIE PICKER

Trumps plan to give Americas biggest companies a huge tax break will enrich shareholders and executives without helping working families.

By FRANK CLEMENTE

A prison sentence for Jrme Cahuzac is an embarrassment for the troubled administration of President Franois Hollande, who has said he will not run for re-election.

By BENOT MORENNE

The president named a panel to recommend how to make Panamas financial sector more transparent, but that effort did not work out as planned.

By WALT BOGDANICH, ANA GRACIELA MNDEZ and JACQUELINE WILLIAMS

When a wealthy businessman set out to divorce his wife, their fortune vanished. The quest to find it would reveal the depths of an offshore financial system bigger than the U.S. economy.

By NICHOLAS CONFESSORE

Consensus emerges among politicians, including both presidential candidates, that companies foreign profits should be brought back to America. But how?

By JEFF SOMMER

Americans for Tax Fairness writes that they are the multinational companies, especially in the high-tech and pharmaceutical industries.

It has so many loopholes that many companies end up paying relatively little.

By DAVID LEONHARDT

Its time to stop companies like Amazon, Boeing and Coca-Cola from damaging the economy by legally shirking taxes.

By DAVID LEONHARDT

A new study shows how Fortune 500 companies have managed to shelter trillions of dollars in profits offshore from being taxed, leaving Mr. Trump in the dust.

By ANDREW ROSS SORKIN

The Securities and Exchange Commission accused Sam Wyly and his brother in 2010 of hiding trades in companies they controlled using offshore trusts.

By REUTERS

With countries cracking down on elaborate tax schemes, companies need to be more forthright with their own investors.

By MORRIS PEARL

The move follows a similar deal that Apple struck with Rome in late 2015, and comes as Europe wrestles with how much tax Silicon Valley companies should pay overseas.

By MARK SCOTT

There is wide accord that the current system encourages companies to keep money abroad. The question is how to tax funds brought home, now and in the future.

By PATRICIA COHEN

An inquiry by the New York attorney general found that from 2004 to 2009, Harbert paid no state taxes on profits generated by the hedge fund then managed by Philip Falcone.

By MATTHEW GOLDSTEIN

Greedy rulers around the world steal billions, disguise it and stash it in the West.

By OLIVER BULLOUGH

The trial announcement came after reports that UBS had rejected a settlement in the investigation about whether it helped French clients evade taxes.

By CHAD BRAY

The report outlines a strategy for bringing home billions of dollars from offshore affiliates while avoiding federal income taxes on the earnings.

By JESSE DRUCKER

Both political parties have good reasons to favor this policy.

By ALAN AUERBACH and MICHAEL DEVEREUX

Caterpillar has been dogged by accusations that it reduced its domestic tax bill by shifting profits from the United States to a subsidiary in Switzerland.

By HIROKO TABUCHI

Corporate boards and executives are likely to use much of the cash to acquire businesses in the United States, to buy back their own stock or to pay down debt.

By LESLIE PICKER

Trumps plan to give Americas biggest companies a huge tax break will enrich shareholders and executives without helping working families.

By FRANK CLEMENTE

A prison sentence for Jrme Cahuzac is an embarrassment for the troubled administration of President Franois Hollande, who has said he will not run for re-election.

By BENOT MORENNE

The president named a panel to recommend how to make Panamas financial sector more transparent, but that effort did not work out as planned.

By WALT BOGDANICH, ANA GRACIELA MNDEZ and JACQUELINE WILLIAMS

When a wealthy businessman set out to divorce his wife, their fortune vanished. The quest to find it would reveal the depths of an offshore financial system bigger than the U.S. economy.

By NICHOLAS CONFESSORE

Consensus emerges among politicians, including both presidential candidates, that companies foreign profits should be brought back to America. But how?

By JEFF SOMMER

Americans for Tax Fairness writes that they are the multinational companies, especially in the high-tech and pharmaceutical industries.

It has so many loopholes that many companies end up paying relatively little.

By DAVID LEONHARDT

Its time to stop companies like Amazon, Boeing and Coca-Cola from damaging the economy by legally shirking taxes.

By DAVID LEONHARDT

A new study shows how Fortune 500 companies have managed to shelter trillions of dollars in profits offshore from being taxed, leaving Mr. Trump in the dust.

By ANDREW ROSS SORKIN

The Securities and Exchange Commission accused Sam Wyly and his brother in 2010 of hiding trades in companies they controlled using offshore trusts.

By REUTERS

With countries cracking down on elaborate tax schemes, companies need to be more forthright with their own investors.

By MORRIS PEARL

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Offshore Banking - The New York Times

A Trump administration proposal to continue allowing oil companies to dump unlimited amounts of offshore fracking chemicals into the Gulf of Mexico violates federal law and threatens imperiled marine wildlife, the Center for Biological Diversity warned this week.

In a letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Region 6 office on its proposed wastewater-discharge permit for offshore oil and gas drilling activities off the coasts of Louisiana, Texas and Mississippiwhere thousands of offshore drilling platforms are locatedthe Center for Biological Diversity explained that the proposed permit violates the Clean Water Act because it causes an undue degradation of the marine environment. The Center for Biological Diversity's letter notes that "scientific research has indicated that 40 percent of the chemicals used in fracking can harm aquatic animals and other wildlife."

"The Trump administration is letting the oil industry dump unlimited amounts of toxic fracking chemicals into these wildlife-rich waters," said Center for Biological Diversity attorney Kristen Monsell. "The EPA is supposed to protect ocean water quality, not turn a blind eye as oil companies use the Gulf as a garbage dump for fracking waste."

Earlier this year the EPA's Region 6 office responded to a Freedom of Information Act request from the Center for Biological Diversity for records analyzing the effects of fracking chemicals on Gulf water quality and marine life. Officials said they didn't have any responsive records, meaning the agency has been allowing the oil industry to dump its fracking wastewater into the Gulf without studying its environmental impacts, as federal law requires.

Federal waters off Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi host the largest concentration of offshore oil and gas drilling activities in the country. Previous records requests revealed that oil companies dumped more than 75 billion gallons of wastewater into these waters in 2014 alone.

At least 10 fracking chemicals routinely used in offshore fracking could kill or harm a broad variety of marine species, including marine mammals and fish, Center for Biological Diversity scientists have found. The California Council on Science and Technology has identified some common fracking chemicals to be among the most toxic in the world to marine animals.

Fracking chemicals raise grave ecological concerns because the Gulf of Mexico is important habitat for whales, sea turtles and fish and contains critical habitat for imperiled loggerhead sea turtles. Dolphins and other species in the Gulf are still suffering lingering effects from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

"It's the EPA's job to safeguard our oceans from being contaminated with fracking wastewater," Monsell said. "The agency has no business rubber-stamping the dumping of dangerous, disgusting chemicals without even trying to understand the risks."

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Stop Dumping Offshore Fracking Waste Into Gulf of Mexico - EcoWatch

The well encountered hydrocarbon bearing reservoir (Lower Cretaceous) and oil samples were obtained. Preliminary analysis indicates 31 API oil quality. Further work is being undertaken to integrate this discovery with FAN-1 to establish the potential commerciality of the deep water, basinal resource seen in these two wells.

FAN South-1 islocatedin ~2,175 m water depth,~90 km offshore intheSangomarDeep Offshore block and 30 km southwest of the FAN-1 exploration well.The well reachedTD of 5,343 m, targeting dual prospects: an Upper Cretaceous stacked multi-layer channelized turbidite fan prospect and a Lower Cretaceous base of slope turbidite fan prospect, similar to the FAN-1 oil discovery in 2014. FAN South -1 is being plugged and abandoned.

The rig is now moving location to commence operations at the SNE North exploration prospect, 15 km north of the SNE-1 discovery well and the most northerly location yet tested, on trend with the highly successful SNE field. SNE North is targeting a prospective volume of more than 80 MMbbl of total resource in multiple objectives. The well is located in ~ 900 m water depth and the projected TD of the well is 2,800 m.

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Cairn Energy announces results of FAN South-1 well, offshore Senegal - WorldOil (subscription)

Dominion Energy Virginia has signed an agreement and strategic partnership with Denmark's Dong Energy to construct two 6-megawatt turbines 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach.

In an announcement on Monday, Dominion Energy said that it remained sole owner of the project, and that the two businesses would start to refine agreements for engineering, procurement and construction. The business added that it was the mid-Atlantic's first offshore wind project in a federal lease area.

"Virginia is now positioned to be a leader in developing more renewable energy thanks to the Commonwealth's committed leadership and Dong's unrivaled expertise in building offshore wind farms," Thomas F. Farrell II, Dominion Energy's chairman, president and chief executive officer, said in a statement.

"While we have faced many technological challenges and even more doubters as we advanced this project, we have been steadfast in our commitment to our customers and the communities we serve."

Virginia is a member of the U.S. Climate Alliance, a coalition made up of states including California, Hawaii, New York and Oregon, all committed to upholding the Paris Accord and taking action on climate change.

Commenting on the news regarding Dominion Energy Virginia and Dong Energy, Governor Terry McAuliffe said it marked "the first step in what I expect to be the deployment of hundreds of wind turbines off Virginia's coast that will further diversify our energy production portfolio, create thousands of jobs, and reduce carbon emissions in the Commonwealth."

"Today's announcement advances our efforts to build a new Virginia economy that is cleaner, stronger, and more diverse," he added.

At the end of 2016, America's first offshore wind farm, located off the coast of Rhode Island, commenced commercial operations.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, offshore wind resources "are abundant, stronger, and blow more consistently than land-based wind resources."

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Dominion Energy Virginia and Dong Energy team up for offshore wind project - CNBC

Lebanon's capital, Beriut, may one day be powering its economy with a steady stream of domestically produced natural gas. Getty Images.

Lebanon, a country that unlike many of its neighbors has faced high energy prices for a generation, wants to become a natural gas exporter by the end of this decade.

To realize its ambition, the government will need to take on the new role of managing foreign oil and gas companies that are set to compete in its first and long-delayed offshore licensing round.

Speaking last week on the Houston-leg of a government roadshow, Lebanons Minister of Energy and Water Cesar Abi Khalil said he is pushing companies to turn in their bids by 15 September so contracts can be awarded as soon as November.

In this licensing round we have managed to attract 51 of the biggest companies in the world to pre-qualify and express their interest, he said, adding, This is five times the total number of companies that have participated in all the licensing rounds that have occurred in our part of the world.

The interest level speaks to the potential of the blocks on offer, the minister said. On auction are five of the countrys 10 offshore areas where potential gas-rich reservoirs lie untapped. The country is using the production-sharing agreement model to launch its domestic energy sector and will place revenue in a sovereign wealth fund that will serve as an investment vehicle.

The Lebanese governments short-term aim is to use newly produced gas for electricity generation so it can do away with expensive fuel-oil burning power plants. Longer-term goals include using gas to bolster domestic manufacturing and transport sectors.

Meeting domestic demand might not be such a tall order. With a population of 5.8 million people, Khalil said the output equivalent of two offshore wells would quench Lebanons entire gas need, which is not expected to exceed an annual consumption rate of 0.5 Tcf by 2030.

In terms of exporting the product, Lebanon will have several possibilities. They include tapping into the Arab Gas Pipeline, using a proposed Syrian pipeline that would terminate in Turkey, laying a new subsea pipeline to Cyprus, or a floating liquefied natural gas facility. There are too many options, Khalil quipped.

The upcoming tender was supposed to have been completed 4 years ago. In acknowledging that, Khalil blamed the political environment created by national elections for the holdup. This is the price of democracy, he said, before explaining that recently passed legislation on the matter shows that the government is running straight ahead for the 15th of September.

But with the delays came a couple of silver linings for the government. One is that the extra time allowed for several more companies to become qualified to participate in the auction. The other, and possibly more significant, is that the government was able run more seismic surveys and process the data.

Lebanon is maybe the only country in the world that has achieved a complete seismic survey for its maritime waters before even launching the licensing round, Khalil said, adding that the governemnt's confidence in the subsurface data is bolstered by the number of natural gas seeps that have been identified on the seabed which coincide perfectly with some of the prime drilling locations.

With so much seismic data in hand, the government expects companies to move quickly and achieve first delivery of commercial gas supplies by 2019. However, such a deadline may be hard to achieve considering that the first contracts cannot be signed until the end of this year and offshore projects often require several years to materialize.

Further challenging expidious work offshore Lebanon is the 80% local work content rule that the government will requirea hurdle that the minister said can be very easily cleared in part because of the number of qualified Lebanese that already work in the global oil and gas industry.

In addition to Lebanons unexplored geology, there are also uncertainties involved with its regional politics. Lebanon remains locked in a prolonged state of war with neighboring Israel, with the last major armed conflict taking place in 2006. The two countrys problems extend offshore where there is an ongoing dispute over their shared maritime border.

While three of the five blocks to be auctioned exist along this southern border, Khalil tried to put concerns to rest by explaining that these areas have received the most attention from offshore companies. However, he did say that the border dispute means that the few prospective reservoirs that do span the border line will not be the first to be drilled, by us or by them.

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Lebanon Eager To Award First Offshore Contracts, Become Gas Exporter - Journal of Petroleum Technology