DONNA ABU-NASR
BEIRUT (Bloomberg) -- Lebanon may soon approve measures to push ahead with a stalled first auction of offshore oil and natural gas rights, ending years of political wrangling as it tries to catch up in a regional race to tap energy wealth in the eastern Mediterranean.
The auction first scheduled for November 2013 was frozen by the government’s failure to pass decrees to demarcate energy blocks, establish production-sharing contracts and specify tender protocols. Mohammad Kabbani, head of the parliamentary energy committee, said Monday that he expected the decrees to be approved “a short period” after the Muslim holidays of Eid al-Fitr this week.
