Majors Restock East Med Exploration Queue

摘要

Big Oil’s fortunes in the East Mediterranean have been mixed, with political entanglements in Israel deterring investment contrasted by the giant Zohr discovery offshore Egypt. With a series of bid rounds on the horizon and drilling campaigns geared up for the coming months, the majors are ready to give gas exploration another go. Beirut will publish a bidders list for the auction of five blocks offshore Lebanon by Oct. 19, with awards and agreements potentially signed by the end of November. Drilling on these blocks is forecast to start in late 2018 or early 2019. Israel’s first offshore licensing round, delayed twice with the hope of attracting more interest, will accept bids next month, but so far only Indian firms and Greece’s Energean are likely to participate due in large part to the political and regulatory hang- ups US Noble Energy has faced trying to progress its 22 trillion cubic foot Leviathan field. Meanwhile, Egypt is planning to launch a new deepwater round by year’s end.