Berri and Bassil Hail Approval of Oil Decree, Urge Swift Implementation of Law
Speaker Nabih Berri and Energy Minister Jebran Bassil expressed relief on Thursday after the cabinet approved the oil exploration decrees, according to As Safir newspaper.
“Congratulations to Lebanon… We’ve reached the stage of implementing the work, and we should exert efforts to compensate for lost time,” Berri told the daily.
For his part, Bassil stressed that the approval of the law is an important step in the quest of oil exploration in Lebanese waters after the parliament approved last year a draft law to allow oil and gas exploration.
“The challenge now is in appointing the committee tasked with administrating the oil sector in a month at best, where the tenders would kick off in a maximum period of 3 months,” he told the newspaper.
Bassil noted that the appointment of the committee members will depend on the principle of “efficiency,” which would be binding.
Asked about the amount of oil and gas expected to be recovered from Lebanese waters, he said: “We will talk about the issue at the right time. The Lebanese will hear good surprises soon.”
Head of the parliamentary public works and energy committee MP Mohammed Qabbani told As Safir that approving the law is a “positive and efficient step” that should be followed by appointing the oil committee members.
However, he noted that the exploration of Lebanese waters will be costly.
Qabbani said that going ahead with the exploration will reinforce the international trust in the country and boost investments.
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://cdn.naharnet.com/stories/en/25508 |