Turkish Petroleum Corporation TPAO to drill oil off Lebanese coast

                       
The Turkish energy minister Taner Yildiz said on Wednesday that the Turkish Petroleum Corporation TPAO will participate in drilling for oil off the Lebanese coast.                                     

The Turkish minister added that talks about agreements with Israel over energy are "too early to be held now".           

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.                                            
Caretaker Energy Minister Gebran 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 in exploring those potential reserves.