On the 13th of May 2020 the Council of Ministers approved a draft decree aimed at amending some articles of the Tender Protocol (Annex 1) of Decree No. 4918 dated 31/5/2019  (Amendment of some of the articles and annexes of Decree No. 43 dated 1/1/2017; Tender Protocol related to the offshore licensing round, and the Model Exploration and Production Agreement) and the adoption of the procedures compatible with this amendment. 

This amendment allows applicants to submit the applications of the second offshore licensing round online according to the technical procedures specified in the Tender Protocol. 

A Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) for the Exploration and Production Activities Offshore Lebanon was undertaken in compliance with the requirements of Law 132/2010 (Offshore Petroleum Resources Law) and the Decree 8213/2012 (Strategic Environmental Assessment). This SEA succeeds the first Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) undertaken in 2012. 

The SEA strategically assesses the social, environmental and economic impacts, both positive and negative, potentially related to the offshore oil and gas activities, and more importantly, provides a comprehensive management framework for the mitigation of these impacts and the monitoring of performance against a holistic set of indicators based on the SDGs. Recommendations of this study provide further guidance for the development of the oil and gas sector, mainly from an environmental point of view addressing data collection, block opening, mainstreaming of impact assessments, development options and environmental management. 

The SEA clarifies the environmental and social context for offshore oil and gas and aims to reduce risks and liabilities and enhance competition and visibility for International Oil Companies (IOCs). On the other hand, it defines responsibilities on the various relevant government entities besides the International Oil Companies to ensure an integrative approach to implementation. 

This SEA was conducted by the Lebanese Petroleum Administration and the Ministry of Energy and Water under the framework of the European Union (EU) financed PROMARE Technical Assistance Project (“Technical assistance to support the Government of Lebanon's preparation of exploiting and producing offshore oil and gas resources“).

1- Cover page

2- Non Technical Summary - English

3- Non Technical Summary - Arabic

4- SEA E&P Lebanon Volume 1  SEA Report

• 4a- SEA E&P Volume 1 Appendices A, B, C & D
• 4b- SEA E&P Volume 1 Appendices E & F

5 - SEA E&P Lebanon Volume  2  Baseline Conditions

6 - SEA E&P Lebanon Volume  3 Legal

7 - SEA E&P Lebanon Volume  4 Stakeholder Engagement

8- MOE Approval Letter

H.E. Minister of Energy and Water, Raymond Ghajar issued the following statement:
Given the implications of the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19) worldwide, the Council of Ministers' announcement of public mobilisation in Lebanon, and the resulting impacts on the course of the Second Offshore Licensing Round and on deadlines given to International Oil Companies to undertake preparations to submit Licensing Round Applications; the Minister of Energy and Water issued a decision to postpone the deadline to submit applications to participate in Lebanon's Second Offshore Licensing Round from the 30th of April 2020 to the 1st of June 2020. The decision will be published in the Official Gazette and on the LPA's website.

Click here to download the Minister's Decision in relation with the above mentioned extension.

Click here to download the Minister's Decision in relation with the above mentioned extension as published in the Official Gazette issue no. 15 dated 9 April 2020.

In compliance with the principles of transparency in the petroleum sector and the implementation of the provisions of Law No. 28/2017 (Public Access to Information) , and Law No. 84/2018 (Enhancing Transparency in the Petroleum Sector), the Ministry of Energy and Water continuously and permanently publishes the account value generated by the licensing of seismic data in the Lebanese Offshore and deposited in the account of “Seismic Sales’ Revenues" at the Central Bank of Lebanon.

Current Amount: 43.03 Million U.S.D (as of October 31, 2019)

The Lebanese Petroleum Administration publishes the list of goods allocated for petroleum activities and exempted from custom duties and value added tax (VAT) together with the required procedures to grant exemption

 Click here to download the decision and list of goods.