In late April 2018, it was reported that Lebanonâs Minister of Energy & Water has requested that the Lebanese Petroleum Administration (LPA) commence preparations for a potential second offshore licensing round. The Council of Ministers subsequently approved the recommendations of the LPA on 17 May 2018. This second offshore licensing round is expected to be launched in early 2019 and will extend over a twelve month period. A pre-qualification round will be held in the first quarter of 2019 with submission of bids expected in May to October 2019. Lebanonâs First Offshore Licensing Round closed on 12 October 2017. A consortium of Total S.A., Eni International BV and JSC Novatek were awarded two blocks, Block 4 and Block 9. No other bids were made. The Lebanese Government was offering five offshore blocks (1,4,8,9 and 10) for exploration and production. The 10 designated offshore Lebanese blocks cover the entire offshore area with areas ranging from approximately 1,260 sq km to 2,380 sq km.  Â           Tentative Second   Licensing Round Timeline         Â              Â          Dates             Official Launching of   Licensing Round and Announcement of Open Blocks         Early 2019             Submission of   Prequalification Applications         Jan 2019Â  -Â    End April 2019             Declaration of   Prequalification Results         May 2019             Submission of Bids         May 2019Â  -Â    End Oct 2019             Evaluation of Bids and   CoM approval         Nov 2019             Signature of EPAs         Dec 2019        Â           Meeting the LPA         Â          Â              Event         Location         Dates             ONS         Stavanger â Norway         27-31 Aug 2018             Gastech         Barcelona â Spain         17-20 Sept 2018             Adipec         Abu Dhabi â UAE         12-15 Nov 2018             Petex         London â UK         27-29 Nov 2018
Lebanon, Block 9