Gas Exploration Ship Arrives in Lebanon

By Staff, Agencies

Lebanese caretaker Public Works Minister Ali Hamieh announced on Wednesday that the TransOcean Barents drilling rig, which will begin gas exploration in Lebanon's offshore Block 9, has "arrived at the drilling point."

Hamieh's announcement aligns with information in a statement by TotalEnergies.

Chartered by TotalEnergies on behalf of the consortium it formed with Italy's ENI and QatarEnergy, the TransOcean Barents platform will drill an exploration well in Block 9 of Lebanon's Exclusive Economic Zone [EEZ], off the Lebanese coast near Sour in South Lebanon.

Several media outlets reported on Wednesday that Hamieh and caretaker Energy Minister Walid Fayad had “inspected the logistical base at the Beirut Rafik Hariri International Airport,” which will be used to provide services to the drilling platform in Block 9 via helicopter transfer.

Quoted by local media outlets, Fayad said that Lebanese authorities “will know the results of the drilling and exploration in two or three months.”

Hamieh, for his part, commented from the airport, “We hope that Lebanon will become an oil country.”

The minister further underlined that the helicopter route dedicated to providing services to the drilling platform has been named Line 96 “in memory of the martyrs of Qana”.

On April 18, 1996, 106 civilians were martyred in an “Israeli” bombardment while they sheltered in a UNIFIL base in Qana, South Lebanon.