Lebanon's Minister of Energy in the caretaker government, Walid Fiad, confirmed today, Thursday, in an interview with "Wordna," that "Lebanon is promising in terms of oil and gas according to the maps and surveys that prove this. However, we have not found commercial quantities in the drilling locations that took place recently, and we must continue drilling to find suitable commercial reservoirs."
In the meantime, the Lebanese Petroleum Administration - Ministry of Energy and Water issued the following statement: "After completing the drilling activities of the exploratory well Qana 1/31 at the drilling site in block number 9 in Lebanese territorial waters by the operator Total Energies, and after completing the collection of data and samples resulting from the drilling activities late last Sunday - Monday, and while awaiting the detailed technical report prepared by Total, and in adherence to the transparency principles that the ministry and the Petroleum Administration have consistently followed, we are keen to clarify the following:
The choice of well location in the unexplored Qana Basin aims to answer two central questions regarding the future exploration operations in Lebanese waters:
1. Confirmation or denial of the existence of reservoirs and their types specific to Lebanese waters, in a geological layer where no reservoirs have been discovered in the eastern basin yet.
2. The extent of similarity and continuity of geological layers where gas discoveries were recorded in the occupied Palestinian waters with their counterparts in Lebanese waters, and confirmation or denial of the existence of gas reservoirs and their quality."
The statement added: "Through drilling, we have penetrated the targeted layers and confirmed the existence of a reservoir of good quality containing gas in the specific layer for Lebanon mentioned above. The discovery of this reservoir in the Qana Basin necessitates conducting an extensive study for a deeper understanding that allows us to chart this type of reservoir in the Qana Basin and across block 9 and surrounding blocks to identify potential locations that may contain hydrocarbon materials in commercial quantities."
It was also confirmed "the continuity of geological layers where gas discoveries were recorded in the occupied Palestinian waters into the Lebanese waters, and the existence of very good quality reservoirs containing traces of gas at the site where the well was drilled. Focus in the coming months will be on utilizing the data and samples obtained from inside the well to model the Qana Basin more accurately to determine the geographical extension of the discovered reservoirs within it and in the surrounding areas, thereby increasing the success rate for future gas discoveries in the Qana Basin and surrounding areas that extend over several marine blocks."
The statement concluded by emphasizing that "despite not discovering hydrocarbon materials as a result of drilling this well, the data and samples obtained from inside the well will represent a new hope and positive indicators for the continuity of exploration operations in block 9 and other blocks, especially those surrounding block 9, and they also provide additional momentum for exploration in Lebanese waters."
