Lebanon’s energy minister, Gebrane Bassil, has announced that preliminary surveys of Lebanon’s offshore oil and gas fields has shown reserves of 30 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 660 million barrels of oil, adding that production could begin within four years, AFP has reported.
Speaking at the Arab Economic Forum, Bassil said that scanning was now complete on 70% of the country’s territorial waters – an area of some 15,000 square kilometres, “In just 10 percent of that area.. we have 30 trillion cubic feet of gas and 660 million barrels of oil,” he said, according to AFP.
Production from the reserves was linked to the speed of the exploration phases and installation of wells, but “theoretically ranges from three to seven years.” AFP also reports that Bassil said, “if we meet all the deadlines, we hope to have completed the first exploration phase in the period between 2016 and 2017, and to begin thereafter development and production.”
Earlier this year, the American University of Beirut received a $1.7 million oil and gas reservoir simulation software from Schlumberger, which allows engineering students, teachers and researchers to model oil and gas fields and reservoirs in order to predict the flow of hydrocarbon resources through layers of porous rock.
