TotalEnergies to enter Block 8 offshore Lebanon - OIL & GAS JOURNAL

Jan. 9, 2026

TotalEnergies signed an agreement with the Lebanese government for the Block 8 exploration permit offshore Lebanon.

As part of the initial work program, TotalEnergies will acquire a 1,200-sq-km 3D seismic survey to further assess the area’s exploration potential.

TotalEnergies was awarded Block 8 in the Third Offshore Licensing round. TotalEnergies is operator of the block (35%) with partners Eni (35%) and QatarEnergy (30%).

Block 8 lies about 70 km off the southern coast of Lebanon in water depths of 1,700-2,100 m.

Lebanon and Cyprus finalize sea border agreement after an almost 20-year impasse - ASSOCIATED PRESS

November 26, 2025 

Updated 2:02 PM GMT+2

By KAREEM CHEHAYEB

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon and Cyprus signed a long-delayed sea border agreement on Wednesday, ending an almost 20-year impasse that had stalled some oil and gas exploration in the Mediterranean Sea, as Europe seeks alternatives to Russian fuel.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Cypriot counterpart Nikos Christodoulides signed the agreement at the Baabda presidential palace outside the Lebanese capital, Beirut, finalizing an initial deal first inked in 2007.

Christodoulides called the deal a “historic agreement” in a joint press conference with Aoun, who in turn said the signing sends “a clear ... invitation” to anyone who wants to cooperate with Lebanon.

After deal with Israel, offshore rig arrives in Lebanese waters to drill for gas - THE TIMES OF ISRAEL

16 August 2023, 2:35 pm 5
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.

Oil and gas group Energean calls for east Mediterranean investment boom - FINANCIAL TIMES

14/11/2022
Tom Wilson in London

The chief executive of a London-listed oil and gas company recently threatened by Hizbollah has called for more investment in the energy potential of the eastern Mediterranean after a landmark maritime deal between Lebanon and Israel.

Mathios Rigas, whose Energean delivered the first gas from Israel’s Karish field last month, said the US-brokered agreement, following years of on-off negotiations between the sworn enemies, offered a “new model” for the resolution of border disputes in the contested region.

The deal does not constitute a peace agreement between the two countries, which still do not recognise each other’s governments, but allows for the exploitation of the area’s hydrocarbons while border negotiations continue.

If Nasrallah attacks Karish gas field, Lebanon will pay the price - Gantz - JERUSALEM POST

SEPTEMBER 15, 2022 20:55
By TOVAH LAZAROFF, ANNA AHRONHEIM

Israel warned that Lebanon would pay the price for any Hezbollah attack on its offshore Karish gas field, even as it said it hoped a US-brokered deal to set a maritime boundary in the north was close to completion.

“If [Hezbollah leader Hassan] Nasrallah wants to try and harm and to complicate this process, he is welcome to do so, the price is Lebanon,” Defense Minister Benny Gantz told Reichman University’s 21st World Summit on Counter-Terrorism on Thursday morning. “I hope for his sake that he won’t do this, we are prepared to defend our interests.”

Gantz’ words come as US envoy Amos Hochstein appears to be on the edge of concluding a deal between the Lebanese and Israeli governments to set a maritime border off the Mediterranean Sea. It would give Israel rights to the Karish gas field and Lebanon the right to the abutting Kana gas field.

Rumors about Israel-Lebanon gas pact as Cyprus sits out - KATHIMERINI

05 SEPTEMBER 2022 - 11:35

America’s energy czar is purported to be mediating a secret gas arrangement between Israel and Lebanon, a Herculean task given delineation complexities but not farfetched given ongoing efforts to resolve similar disputes between Tel Aviv and Nicosia.

US Senior Advisor for Energy Security Amos Hochstein will be in Beirut this week, according to sources in Israel, in an effort to mediate talks between Lebanon and Israel over a shared maritime border.

It was reported that Hochstein would present a new Israeli proposal that "includes a solution that would allow the Lebanese to develop the gas reserves in the disputed area while preserving Israel's commercial rights.”

Israel has been seeking a similar deal with neighbor Cyprus. The two countries claim zones that border Lebanon’s waters, proven to be rich in hydrocarbons, but also claim rights to a deposit spanning across their shared maritime border.

Israel turns to UN over Lebanese tender for drilling in its maritime waters - THE JERUSALEM POST

December 27, 2021 04:52

Tovah Lazaroff

Israel has turned to the United Nations to protest Lebanon's issuance of a tender for offshore drilling in disputed maritime waters, over which both governments have claimed sovereignty.

"I would like to raise my government’s serious concerns regarding the recent tender issued by the Government of Lebanon to grant offshore licenses in maritime areas where Israel asserts sovereign rights or jurisdiction in accordance with International law,” Israel Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan wrote Sunday in a letter he penned UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

At issue is a long-standing border dispute over an 860 square kilometer area in the eastern Mediterranean near Israel’s natural gas fields.

Although Israeli and Lebanon do not have diplomatic ties, the former Trump administration brokered talks last year between the two countries in an effort to resolve that longstanding dispute.

Egypt Snubs LNG, Plans To Send Gas to Lebanon Via the Arab Gas Pipeline - JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY

September 23, 2021

Pat Davis Szymczak

Egypt says it is stopping gas supplies to the Egypt Liquefied Natural Gas (ELNG) export terminal at Idku near Alexandria immediately and that it will supply gas to the Damietta LNG plant only until year end as it prepares to redirect surplus gas exports to Lebanon via the Arab Gas Pipeline.

Jordan’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources announced in early September it would deliver Egyptian gas to Lebanon after oil ministers of nations responsible for the Arab Gas Pipeline (Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon) met in Amman to agree on a regional response to Lebanon’s ongoing fuel and electricity crisis, local media reported.

The English language news site Egypttoday.com quoted Egyptian Minister Tarek El Molla as saying, “Egypt is working to speed up coordination for delivering Egyptian natural gas to Lebanon through Jordan and Syria.”

Lebanon is in a state of economic collapse that the World Bank has called one of the worst on record, and, because it lacks foreign currency to pay for energy imports, the country was forced to switch off its two main power plants in July for lack of fuel, plunging the country into a near total blackout.

Defa chairman says gas brings millions of euros to Cyprus - CYPRUS MAIL

December 4, 2020

Andrew Rosenbaum

“The import of gas into Cyprus has the potential to transform the country’s economy and, as a result of this gasification of the island and the region, is already bringing in millions of euros,” Cyprus Natural Gas Public Company (DEFA) chairman Symeon Kassianides pointed out.

Speaking at a webinar sponsored by the Petroleum Economist magazine entitled “Unlocking the potential of East Med Gas,” Kassianides explained the many benefits of the import of gas to Cyprus.

“Not only does it permit the reduction of electricity costs, which are among the highest in Europe, but also because it will permit the opening up of the electricity market. This has been open for some time, but the sale of electricity to the grid depends on the arrival of gas on the island – independent electricity producers had dormant licences which are soon to become a reality.”

“Another new reality is the creation of gas-powered generation plants which are now coming to Cyprus. Renewable generation projects are planning to use gas turbines so that they can produce cheap electricity round the clock and not only when the sun is up during the day. This will make renewables even more viable, so in terms of the energy production we have a complete transformation.”

Will Natural Gas Isolate Turkey And Integrate Israel In The Eastern Mediterranean? - FORBES

Oct 22, 2020,08:44am EDT

Daniel Markind

For generations, the area around the eastern Mediterranean Sea has been filled with turmoil. From the Arab-Israeli conflict to the divided island of Cyprus and the general animus between Greece and Turkey, the region’s problems have seemed intractable.

Over the last decade however, discovery of massive natural gas deposits underneath the eastern Mediterranean Sea are reorienting the entire region. The rush to obtain energy independence and security by discovering and laying claim to gas and oil reserves is immensely important to the countries in the region, forcing them to reconsider historical relationships and presenting new possibilities which previously seemed unthinkable. At the same time however, countries like Turkey which refuse to think anew may find themselves left behind. Events are moving at tremendous speed, with much of the region has changed in just the last three months.

Steinitz: Gas development after Israel-Lebanon talks critical for Beirut - THE JERUSALEM POST

OCTOBER 1, 2020 20:52

Lahav Harkov

The coronavirus pandemic has not stopped Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz from having a major international footprint.

In one week, Steinitz and his Egyptian counterpart established a new international organization dedicated to regional natural-gas developments, the minister spoke with two of his counterparts in the United Arab Emirates for the first time and negotiated the terms for starting maritime border talks with Lebanon, which were officially finalized on Thursday.

“In the coming period we will have negotiations directly mediated by the US, so that once and for all we can sum up the historic dispute over the maritime border between Israel and Lebanon,” Steinitz told The Jerusalem Post. It will be the first direct negotiations between the countries in 30 years.

Total says Lebanon offshore drilling halfway done - LEBANESE OIL & GAS INITIATIVE (LOGI)

MAR/30/2020

Timour Azhari

Lebanon’s first-ever offshore exploratory drill is roughly halfway complete in Block 4 off the coast of Beirut, according to the General Manager of Total E&P Lebanon, Ricardo Darre.

Speaking to LOGI on March 23, Darree said that the drilling was ongoing at a depth of about 3000 meters and would take a total of about 60 days. Then, he said the same amount of time should be given for analysis of the find to determine its commercial viability.

Lebanon to start oil and gas exploration in Block 9 despite dispute with Israel - XINHUA

Xinhua, March 7, 2020

BEIRUT, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Walid Nasr, head of the Lebanese Petroleum Administration, said Lebanon will start in 2020 oil and gas exploration in Block 9 of its territorial waters regardless of the negotiations with Israel about border demarcation, local media reported on Saturday.

"We will prepare for oil and gas exploration in Block 9 this year and we will be drilling at a distance from the borders with Israel," Nasr said in an interview with Elnashra, an online independent newspaper.

Nasr said that it is currently hard to assess if Lebanon has a wealth of oil and gas and companies may not find any resources in the well that's currently being drilled by Total in Block 4.

"Sometimes we need to drill five wells to find oil and gas," Nasr explained.

Drillship off Lebanon to start oil and gas exploration - FRANCE24

25/FEB/2020 - 17:57
Beirut (AFP)

A drillship anchored off Lebanon Tuesday to explore for oil and gas, an energy firm and the government said, raising hopes for a future boost to the country's crumbling economy.

Information Minister Manal Abdel Samad said the first ever such exploration would start within 48 hours.

The Tungsten Explorer was to start drilling in its first exploration well situated some 30 kilometres (16 nautical miles) offshore from Beirut, French oil firm Total said.

"Total is pleased to start exploration operations on block 4, which is the first deepwater exploration well in Lebanon," Total's Lebanon chief Ricardo Darre said.

Anticipation has been high in Lebanon for exploration to start, with many hoping a major hydrocarbon discovery could help redress the debt-burdened economy.

Energy Minister Raymond Ghajar said on Twitter the ship had anchored in block 4.

Update on Lebanon 2nd Offshore Licensing Round - PGS

January 16, 2020

Lebanon’s Ministry of Energy and Water and the Lebanese Petroleum Administration have announced an extension of the application deadline.

Companies interested in participating in the licensing round are now invited to submit their applications for Blocks 1, 2, 5, 8 and 10 before the 30th April 2020.

Exploration Opportunity
Lebanon presents a tremendous opportunity, with frontier acreage already covered by modern 2D and 3D seismic data. The acreage comes with the reassurance of proven hydrocarbon plays and recent discoveries in the vicinity.

Israel, Lebanon, and Failed Natural Gas Negotiations - FOREIGN POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE

December 11, 2019

Leah Pedro

Over the past decade, there has been a gas revolution in the Eastern Mediterranean, where discoveries of large offshore gas deposits have set up some of the littoral states—notably Israel, Egypt and perhaps Cyprus—as potential significant players in the European natural gas market. This has led to the creation of the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF), set up in Cairo this year, to facilitate cooperation among members—Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, Israel, Italy, Jordan, and Palestine, with U.S. support. Lebanon has been late to join in the gas market and has not yet been able to join the EMGF, and Turkey has been excluded for contentious bilateral relationships among members. While there seems to be a chance that further gas deposits are located in Lebanese waters, further exploration and exploitation cannot take place near the Israeli and Lebanese marine border until the contested area is demarcated. The potential profits from oil exploration in the disputed area could bring in as much as US$600 billion over the next several decades. Economic and political possibilities would seem attractive enough to incentivize both sides toward finding common ground. Yet, negotiations to delimit the maritime boundary, set to begin late summer 2019, never came to fruition, and do not seem likely to begin any time soon.

Gas sector a catalyst for further cooperation between Lebanon and Egypt - EXECUTIVE MAGAZINE

Nada Boustani, Lebanon's Energy Minister

August 7, 2019

Mona Sukkarieh

The first six months of 2019 saw an unusual series of meetings between Lebanese and Egyptian officials, with energy cooperation at the core of these discussions. If memory serves well, the frequency is unprecedented.

The option of resuming gas imports from Egypt was discussed extensively, especially during the first meetings of 2019. Lebanon previously imported natural gas from Egypt in 2010 via the Arab Gas Pipeline (AGP) to generate electricity. But supplies were interrupted after a few months with various reasons touted (such as Egypt’s inability to pursue exports because production was barely enough to meet local demand, instability in Egypt, and attacks against the pipeline). With the formation of a new government on January 31, Lebanese officials explored the possibility of quickly resuming imports as they scrambled to find solutions to the problems plaguing the electricity sector. The dire state of Lebanon’s power sector and the burden it places on the economy propelled it to the forefront of the government’s reform agenda. Government officials examined the option of importing gas by pipeline from Egypt to generate electricity—in addition to the possibility of buying electricity from Jordan in exchange for water—as among the possible solutions that they thought could be implemented quickly.

Total: 20-25% chance of success on Lebanon first exploratory well - LEBANON GAS NEWS

03.SEPT.2019

Total is the lead company in a consortium that won contracts in 2017 to explore for oil and gas in Lebanon’s maritime block’s 4 and 9. The other two companies are ENI and Novatek.

The consortium is contractually obliged to drill a minimum of two exploratory wells per block, starting with Block 4, where the first drill location has been set off the coast of Beirut.

What are the chances of drilling before the end of 2019?

Lebanon’s High Risk Offshore Oil & Gas Boom - OIL PRICE / YAHOO

August 24, 2019

Cyril Widdershoven

The least known offshore oil and gas frontier in the East-Mediterranean, Lebanon is preparing itself for a possible entrance into the producer’s league.

At the end of 2019, most probably November – December, offshore drilling is expected to start, targeting some prolific basins. The offshore success stories in Israel, Cyprus and Egypt, have supported the appetite of Beirut to take the plunge too. Nada Boustani, Lebanon’s Minister of Energy and Water, also reiterated that the country’s second licensing round is receiving lots of interest. Lebanon estimates its natural gas reserves at 25 trillion cubic feet (tcf) based on seismic studies, but these have not been confirmed by drilling and may not amount to reserves that are commercially viable.

In an interview given to the international press this week, Boustani showed extreme optimism about the expected results, hoping that an offshore gas discovery would give a big boost to the currently struggling Lebanese economy.

Understanding the Israel-Lebanon Maritime Border Dispute - HONEST REPORTING

August 4, 2019

Griffin Judd

International border disputes are very common, and in the normal course of events rarely draw any attention. But what happens when one of the countries in the dispute refuses to acknowledge the other’s existence? This complicates things, because the two countries then cannot negotiate directly. After all, negotiation implies recognition.

That is the dilemma currently facing Israel and Lebanon, who, since 2011, have been arguing over an 856 sq km piece of ocean.

But why is this area of the sea worth fighting about? What are the problems? And more importantly, what are the possible solutions?

History of the Israel-Lebanon Maritime Dispute

To understand this dispute, one must understand the international laws behinds it. At the root of the problem lies is the jurisdiction of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Under this treaty, states are entitled to a 200-nautical mile Economic Exclusion Zone (EEZ) off their coast. Within this zone, states have exclusive rights to exploit natural resources, such as fish and oil.

Lebanon ratified UNCLOS and submitted its proposed border to the UN in 2011; Israel never ratified the treaty, but generally adheres to it, and submitted its proposed border to the UN at the same time.

And here the dispute arose.