Bassil meets with Cypriot counterpart

            
Caretaker Energy and Water Minister, Gebran Bassil, met on Thursday with Cyprus's Minister of Energy, Commerce, Industry and Tourism, George Lakkotrypis, with talks featuring high on the oil and gas exploration.              

Following the meeting, Bassil said that the meeting was positive, stressing that he explained that he showed Lebanon's readiness to put the required frames for agreements relevant to dividing the mutual resources between Lebanon and Cyprus.             

Bassil added that such readiness cannot be translated on the ground without solving the pending sea borders issue.               

Interest in drilling in the eastern Mediterranean has grown since two natural gas fields were discovered off Lebanon's shores.             

Delegates at an oil and gas conference in Beirut in December said Lebanese waters could contain between 30 trillion and 40 trillion cubic feet of gas.             

Bassil said in September that one southern bloc alone could hold 12 trillion cubic feet and this was enough gas to produce electricity for Lebanon for 99 years.                 

Lebanon hopes that gas discoveries could help address its government debt and chronic domestic power shortages, but repeated delays mean it is already several years behind.                     



LBCI/Reuters