DAILY SCOPE: Lebanon Procrastination Pushes Int. Companies to Abandon Oil Exploration

Local Editor

NEWSPAPERS HEADLINES:

ASSAFIR:

File of Military Soldiers, Captive of "Field Experiments"
Mismanagement of "Lebanese Oil" Pushes International Companies to Abandon It

AN-NAHAR:

Lebanon Launches Today Plan to Respond to Crisis
Eliasson in Beirut, No Initiatives among Delegates

AL-AKHBAR:

Kidnappers Delegate Preacher Wissam Masri

THE DAILYSTAR:

Fugitives arrested on way to Arsal militants
Dozens held in Sydney cafe, forced to hold "Islamic" flag in window

Lebanese newspapers on Monday focused on the "Israeli" theft to Lebanon's offshore oil, and the abandonment of the exploration companies to Lebanon due to its mismanagement of the ‘oil file'. 

Also, Lebanese papers touched on the ongoing crisis of the Lebanese abducted soldiers whose fate remains unknown, as well as the latest developments in the Syrian crisis.
Despite the mismanagement and procrastination of the Lebanese government in issuing licensing for offshore exploration, and amid reports that "Israel" has been stealing Lebanese gas, Lebanon seeks to renew the interest of international companies in offshore oil exploration.

As-Safir Lebanese daily said on Monday that the Parliament's Energy Committee lately discovered that the interest of oil exploration companies has dropped to a large extent after they realized the Lebanese government was slow in adopting two important bills.

For the fifth time in a row last August, Lebanon postponed the first round of licensing for gas exploration over a political dispute.

The paper iterated the companies have become uninterested especially because of the official mismanagement to the file. The disagreements, according to the source, were over the designation of blocks open for bidding and the terms of a draft exploration agreement.

To avert a further drop in the interest of the companies, the energy committee decided to hold conferences in more than one European country to revive the marketing of Lebanese offshore oil and gas. Yet for the moment, the committee was satisfied to only summon the expert Farouq al-Qassem, who had trained the Lebanese team in 2006, and listened to his suggestions to activate the means of oil riches exploration.

As well, the committee's members are scheduled to hold separate meetings on Monday with Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Tammam Salam.
As-Safir also reported that Berri is also expected to hold talks with UNIFIL commander Major-General Luciano Portolano over the "Israeli" theft of Lebanon's offshore gas. The speaker has said on several occasions that the Jewish state is "stealing" huge amounts of gas through a pipeline that runs along Lebanon's territorial waters.

The speaker told the dailies on Monday that his meetings with the members of the parliamentary committee and Portolano are aimed at setting the stage for the revival of the oil file.

Warning that "Israel" was encroaching on 850 miles of Lebanon's rights at sea, Berri assured to as-Safir that "It is no longer acceptable to waste time when the Israeli enemy is signing agreements" with gas exploration companies.

Berri also agreed with the latest remarks made by Energy Minister Arthur Nazarian, who said last week that Lebanon would miss the oil exploration chance if the authorities did not take any action. "Nazarian's stance is important and in harmony with our view on the strategy to designate the blocks," he said.

For his part, head of the committee MP Mohammed Qabbani, said "We should exert all efforts not to lose these companies." He called on all sides in Lebanon to agree on how to deal with the oil file, considering that there is no need to fight over the file as it is in the interest of all the Lebanese people united.
Lebanon and Israel are at loggerheads over the 850 kilometers of territorial water that each claims as part of its Exclusive Economic Zone.

Earlier on Sunday, MP Nawaf Moussawi said in a statement that "The "Israeli" enemy had started drilling for oil more than seven years ago."
Musawi said that "Israel" has been violating 860 square kilometers of "Lebanon's exclusive economic zone," noting that the violation has yet to receive a governmental response that would allow Lebanon to reclaim the area.
Last week, Berri told Al-Akhbar that he had received credible information from an unnamed "international scientist" that "Israel" had started siphoning off gas from one of Lebanon's reserves in an area close to the southern border with "Israel".

The oil and gas is being siphoned off at a very low cost, he told the daily, vowing to raise the issue of licensing for offshore gas exploration at the start of the new year.

Meanwhile, al-Akhbar newspaper touched on the file of the abducted soldiers, whose fate remains unknown, saying that "al-Nusra front has designated Sheikh Wissam Masri with a written letter to negotiate with the Lebanese government on the file of the abducted soldiers. Masri told al-Akhbar that al-Nusra front has guaranteed it will not harm the hostages, assuring he has received approval from al-Nusra and the so-called Islamic State to start negotiations with the Lebanese State.

Al-Akhbar came to know that the mediator has already met with some generals from the Lebanese intelligence and internal security apparatuses, but he awaits scheduling a direct meeting with General Abbas Ibrahim, Head of the Lebanese Security Forces.
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Dozens of hostages were trapped inside a central Sydney cafe on Monday, with local television showing some being forced to hold up a black flag with white Arabic writing in the window, raising fears of an attack linked to Islamic militants, said the Sun Herald newspaper.

New South Wales state police said they were dealing with "an armed incident," and said they were trying to make contact with people inside the Lindt Chocolat Cafe in Sydney.
Television footage shot through the cafe's windows showed several people with their arms in the air and hands pressed against the glass, and two people holding up what appeared to be a black flag with white Arabic writing on it.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who has warned of militant plans to attack Australian targets, said he was convening a meeting of the cabinet's national security committee for a briefing on the hostage situation at the Lindt Cafe in the country's commercial capital. "Police are dealing with an armed incident and specialist officers are attempting to make contact (with) those inside a cafe," New South Wales Police said in a statement.

The cafe is located in Martin Place, a plaza in the heart of the city's financial and shopping district that is packed with holiday shoppers this time of year. It is home to the state premier's office, the Reserve Bank of Australia, and the headquarters of two of the nation's largest banks. The state parliament house is a few blocks away.

Source: al-Ahed news