Lebanese grand energy plans at risk from political inertia

The Wall Street Journal

Divisions amongst Lebanon’s political groups and failure by the government to prioritise energy exploration is likely to scare off international investors and hamper the country’s ambitious hydrocarbon plans.

The caretaker government has so far failed to vote on decrees needed to start the first oil and natural gas licensing round in the Mediterranean coastal waters, delaying the process by a month. Energy minister Gebran Bassil avoided blaming the president and the prime minister for the delay last week but urged them to depoliticize the energy sector if Lebanon wants to keep major oil companies, already wary of the current political instability and spillover from Syria’s civil war, in the country.

Source: The Wall Street Journal FULL STORY