QatarEnergy will join French major TotalEnergies and Italian giant Eni to form a consortium to explore oil and gas offshore Lebanon, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing the Lebanese energy ministry.
The announcement said agreements would be signed on Sunday.
“This will be a major positive development,” Lebanon’s energy minister Walid Fayad told Reuters, adding that it could bring forward the launch of exploration activities from November.
Following months of talks, QatarEnergy is set to take a 30% stake, leaving France’s TotalEnergies and Italy’s Eni with 35% each.
Lebanon’s first licensing round in 2017 saw a consortium of TotalEnergies, Eni and Russia’s Novatek win bids to explore in the offshore 4 and 9 blocks.