Lebanon’s Ministry of Energy and Water has granted TotalEnergies and its partners Eni and QatarEnergy a 3-year permit to explore offshore Block 8 in the Eastern Mediterranean. Under an agreement announced on 9 January, the consortium is required to complete its own 1,200 km² 3D seismic survey of the area as its first work obligation.
Exploration offshore Lebanon stalled in October 2023 when the consortium’s first exploration well, Qana 31/1, turned up dry. While the well tested positive for gas, TotalEnergies reported that quantities were insufficient to declare commerciality.
“Although the drilling of the Qana well on Block 9 did not give positive results, we remain committed to pursue our exploration activities in Lebanon,” TotalEnergies Chairman and CEO Patrick Pouyanné said in a news release.
“We will now focus our efforts on Block 8, together with our partners Eni and QatarEnergy and in close cooperation with Lebanese authorities,” he added.
A Year in the Making
Block 8 stands out among Lebanon’s offshore acreage that lacks 3D seismic data, largely because it is situated in a maritime area previously disputed by Israel. Only 2D data existed there until the recent licensing of new 3D surveys, according to economic research published by the international banking group Credit Libanais in December 2024 when Beirut licensed Norway’s TGS to conduct a nonproprietary multiclient 3D survey.
Blocks 5, 6, and 10 similarly offered sparse or no 3D data during early licensing rounds, thus prompting authorities to target them alongside Block 8 for fresh data generation during Lebanon’s third bidding round which ended in November, according to the Lebanese Petroleum Administration (LPA).
TotalEnergies’ obligation to conduct 3D proprietary seismic under the new 3-year exploration permit, which was approved directly by Lebanon’s Council of Ministers in October and is not part of the licensing tender, is separate from the TGS multiclient effort, which authorities licensed 2 years ago but has yet to commence.
Credit Libanais reported that TGS was to focus “specifically over Block 8’s southern sector … providing more modern and targeted imaging than the legacy 3D already available over most of Blocks 4 and 9.”
Block 8 is located about 70 km off the southern coast of Lebanon in water depths of approximately 1,700–2,100 m.
Prior to their acquisition by TGS, seismic survey companies PGS and Spectrum had conducted 2D and 3D surveys providing baseline data for over 80% of the Lebanese Exclusive Economic Zone between 2006 and 2013, which TGS is expected to reprocess, according to the LPA.
Commenting also on the new permit, Qatar’s Energy Minister and President and CEO of QatarEnergy, Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, said, “We are pleased to secure this exploration block, which allows us to support the development of Lebanon’s upstream oil and gas sector reflecting and reaffirming the State of Qatar’s ongoing commitment towards a brighter future for Lebanon and its people.”
TotalEnergies is the operator with a 35% interest; Eni also holds 35%, and QatarEnergy holds 30%.
