BEIRUT, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- Lebanon announced on Wednesday the creation of the Lebanese Sovereign Fund for Oil and Gas to manage the sector's revenues, the National News Agency reported.
Ibrahim Kanaan, the head of the Parliamentary Finance and Budget Committee, said at a press conference that the sovereign fund is created to secure the management, rational and sound investment of petroleum-generated state funds to boost development of the national economy.
The fund is a specialized public institution which holds legal personality, financial and administrative independence, thus free from the traditional oversight exercised by governments and the executive authority, he added.
The sovereign fund must be managed by professional experts hired by the Civil Service Council and through an international recruitment institution based on qualifications, Kanaan noted.
Lebanon and Israel finalized a U.S.-brokered maritime border demarcation deal last October, bringing both countries closer to oil and gas exploration in their waters after years of negotiations.
On Jan. 29, Qatar signed an agreement with Lebanon to join the consortium of France's TotalEnergies and Italy's ENI for oil and gas exploration in blocks 4 and 9 in the Lebanese territorial waters, which will start in September.
Lebanon needs revenues from the oil and gas sector as the country is still reeling from an unprecedented financial crisis. ■
