Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman and CEO of TotalEnergies, received the Lebanese Minister of Energy Walid Fayad at the company’s headquarters, as TotalEnergies targets the Lebanon well next year, 2023.
In a press release, the company indicated that during their meeting, Pouyanné and Fayad “discussed the development of TotalEnergies’ activities in Lebanon,” adding that Pouyanné confirmed that the teams in charge of drilling operations on Block number 9 were now mobilized.
According to TotalEnergies, to date, in addition to the Operations Manager, more than 10 people are involved in the preparation of the well, noting that by the end of March 2023, “the team mobilized in Beirut will reach more than 20 employees.”
“The call for tenders to secure the drilling rig has been launched and should lead to a selection of the rig in the first quarter of 2023. Pre-orders have also been placed with suppliers for equipment required for the well. In parallel, offshore resources are being mobilized to contribute to the environmental studies which will be finalized by the end of June 2023.”
TotalEnergies
The energy and petroleum company pointed out that all its teams are working in collaboration with the Lebanese Petroleum Administration (LPA) “to prepare the well in order to achieve the objective of TotalEnergies and its partner ENI to complete the drilling as soon as possible in 2023,” the statement added.
TotalEnergies Reaches a Deal on the Gas Field
It is noteworthy that TotalEnergies reached a deal with the Lebanese government on the gas field. The initial exploration license for Block number 9 was held by a consortium of TotalEnergies, Italy’s Eni, and Russia’s Novatek, though the latter exited the group as a result of the war in Ukraine.
It can be recalled that through indirect negotiations brokered by the United States, Lebanon, and the Israeli occupation concluded in late October a maritime border deal. The Deputy Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament Elias Bou Saab announced that Lebanese President Michel Aoun had signed Lebanon’s receipt and approval of the US letter regarding the demarcation of Lebanon’s Southern maritime border.
The US mediator, Amos Hochstein, said in a press conference in Beirut, on Thursday that “this agreement will allow Lebanon to begin working in Block No. 9 without any threats that another will rob it of the bloc’s proceeds” and added that “this agreement is between two ‘countries’ that do not have diplomatic relations between them, and will ensure that neither party to the agreement will seize the other’s share”.
TotalEnergies is a global multi-energy company that produces and markets energies: oil and biofuels, natural gas and green gases, renewables, and electricity. It has more than 100,000 employees who are committed to energy that is ever more affordable, cleaner, more reliable and accessible to as many people as possible. Active in more than 130 countries, TotalEnergies puts sustainable development in all its dimensions at the heart of its projects and operations to contribute to the well-being of people.
READ ALSO: Ga Rural Bank Laments About Loan Defaulting Customers, Threatens Court Action Against them
Full Statement by TotalEnergies below:
