Lebanon Opens Second Offshore Licensing Round

Lebanon plans to open a second offshore licencing round to follow up its first conducted in 2017.

Lebanon’s Council of Ministers approved the launch of the Second Offshore Licensing Round (SOLR) on April 4, according to Norwegian seismic company PGS, which is an official data provider for the round.

The Lebanese Petroleum Administration (LPA) has detailed five offshore blocks to be offered in the second round. Bidders are invited to submit their applications for Blocks 1, 2, 5, 8 and 10 before January 31, 2020. Provisional block winners are expected to be announced during April 2020.

“Following the success of the first license round in 2017, Lebanon again presents a tremendous opportunity, with frontier acreage already covered by modern 2D and 3D seismic data,” PGS said in a statement. “The acreage comes with the reassurance of proven hydrocarbon plays and recent discoveries in the vicinity.”

Spectrum - another Norwegian seismic operator involved in the round - labelled the offer "much anticipated," and noted that Lebanon has eased pre-qualification criteria to encourage interest.

"Following the prominent Zohr discovery, which opened up a different play type to those of the Leviathan and Aphrodite discoveries, much of the eastern Mediterranean has seen a renewed focus of exploration activity," Spectrum added. "With this increased level of interest, Lebanon’s 2nd offshore licensing round provides a timely opportunity to gain access to favourable acreage in this emerging region."