Minister Fayad meets TotalEnergies officials: Drilling operation to start on August 24

The caretaker Energy and Water Minister, Walid Fayad, convened an evaluative meeting in his ministry's office with top officials from TotalEnergies following his inspection visit to the drilling platform earlier on Tuesday at Block 9.

During the meeting, Fayad discussed the completion of preparations and the scheduled timeline for the drilling operation to commence on August 24.

After the meeting, Minister Fayad announced, "On August 24, the drilling operation will begin, marking a historic day for which we have high hopes. After 67 days, we will have the results of this drilling, hopefully serving as a positive sign for the Lebanese people."

He noted that "TotalEnergies and its partners are fully committed to professional work, and the expectations so far have been extremely positive. Moreover, they have expressed their interest in the neighboring blocks of Block 9, and there will be developments that we will announce when they are more solidified and clarified."

"We also discussed the topic of renewable energy, in which they have a clear interest. Whether it's projects of five megawatts or larger ones like 100 megawatts, they have shown interest and have communicated messages in this context. We have ongoing efforts within the ministry, the government, and the legislative level to achieve positive outcomes in this aspect," Fayad further elaborated.

Laurent Vivier, Senior Vice President of Middle East Exploration at TotalEnergies; Julien Pouget, Senior Vice President of Exploration and Production for Asia; and Romain de La Martinière, General Manager of TotalEnergies in Lebanon, also attended the meeting.