By AP and TOI STAFF
An offshore drilling rig has arrived at its location in the Mediterranean Sea off Lebanon’s coast and will start operations in the coming weeks to search for gas, Lebanese cabinet ministers said Wednesday.
The rig is expected to begin drilling in September in Lebanese waters near the border with Israel after the two countries reached a deal last year on their maritime border. Lebanon and Israel have formally been at war since Israel’s creation in 1948.
Cash-strapped Lebanon hopes that future gas discoveries will help the small Middle East nation pull itself out of the worst economic and financial crisis in its modern history.
Minister of Transport Ali Hamie wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that the rig arrived Wednesday morning at the location where it is scheduled to begin work. The rig faces the southern port city of Tyre.
