TotalEnergies, ENI are looking for drilling vessel to explore Lebanon's Block 9

During his visit to France, Minister of Energy Walid Fayyad raised with Total Energies company the urgency of starting the drilling process in Block No. 9. 

Still, the company answered that the matter requires a small miracle because 95 percent of the drilling ships are tied to contracts in various parts of the world.

However, this will encourage those responsible in Total to search for ways to find a ship as soon as possible, especially since drilling the well may take about 100 days. Noting that sources in the Petroleum Administration indicate that the drilling period should be at most 75 days unless obstacles and difficulties arise.

According to the available information about the meeting, Total Company is very optimistic about the drilling in Block No. 9. It wants to rush the matter so that it is not said that the border demarcation agreement that was completed on October 27 was only to enable Israel to start extracting gas from Karish.

In the statement issued by the Chairman and CEO of TotalEnergies, Patrick Pouyanne, after the meeting with Minister Fayyad, it was stated that the teams responsible for drilling operations in Block 9 had been equipped. By the end of March, the team will reach more than 20 employees. 

The tender has been launched to acquire the drilling vessel. The tender is supposed to lead to the selection of the vessel in the first quarter of the year 2023. In parallel, a boat is being prepared to contribute to the environmental studies that will end in late June 2023.

TotalEnergies teams, in cooperation with the Petroleum Administration, are preparing the well to achieve TotalEnergies and its partner ENI's goal of completing drilling as soon as possible in 2023.

For his part, Minister Fayyad stressed the importance of cooperation between the company and the Lebanese authorities, especially the Petroleum Administration, to expedite the steps leading to starting the drilling process as soon as possible. 

The two parties also agreed on the importance of investing in Lebanon in renewable energy production projects, especially after adopting the new electricity tariff.

Sources say that Total Energies and ENI have sent letters to more than ten companies owning drilling vessels asking them about the possibility of their availability to work in Lebanon and during any period next year, noting that the consortium wants the drilling to be in the last quarter of next year. The sources pointed out that any positive response from any company will open the door to negotiation with it.