BEIRUT, July 1 (Xinhua) -- Lebanon extended the deadline for companies to bid for exploration rights for offshore oil and gas fields in its third licensing round until March next year, the Lebanese Petroleum Administration said on Monday.
The government launched a licensing round for nine maritime blocks in January and originally set a deadline of July 3, 2024.
The Lebanese Petroleum Administration said the deadline was extended to March 17, 2025, to provide enough time to monitor "accelerating regional and international developments," find ways to attract more companies' interest, and "work towards achieving economic stability."
Lebanon and Israel finalized a U.S.-brokered maritime border demarcation deal in October 2022 after years of negotiations, bringing both countries closer to oil and gas exploration in their waters.
On Jan. 29, 2023, 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.
On Oct. 13, 2023, TotalEnergies informed Lebanon's Ministry of Energy and the Lebanese Petroleum Administration that they found no oil and gas wealth in Block 9 of Lebanon's territorial waters. ■
