The Ministry of Energy & Water approved the request of TotalEnergies EP Block 9 (TotalEnergies), which is the operator of the consortium that won bids for the exploration of oil and gas in Block 9 of Lebanon's territorial waters, to modify the coordinates of the Qana  31/1 well in the block.  The ministry indicated that it approved the request based on a letter from the operator dated September 6, 2023 to modify the coordinates  of the Qana 31/1 well in Block 9 and to update the drilling license that the ministry issued on August 16, 2023, as well as based on the  recommendation of the Lebanese Petroleum Administration (LPA) dated September 12, 2023. It said that the operator informed the ministry and the LPA about the technical difficulties that it has faced during the drilling operations, and that the ministry and the LPA have  verified, based on the daily reports from the drilling rig Transocean Brents, that the operator has started drilling in Block 9 according to  the license that the ministry granted to the operator on August 16, 2023. It added that the drilling has reached a depth of 1,713 meters  underwater out of a depth of 1,678 meters, which means that it has drilled 35 meters below the seabed.  Further, the operator noted that it could not continue to drill in the original site due to the presence of rocks that prevent the insertion of  the 36-inch wide iron device inside the seabed. It added that it faced the option of either changing the location of the well to a nearby  area to avoid the rocks, or utilizing a 40-inch wide drilling head to insert the 36-inch iron shirt based on the geological report of August  31, 2023. As such, TotalEnergies indicated that, given the extended period of time that the second option will take, it chose the first  option, which is to modify the well's location by 31.7 meters from the original site.  TotalEnergies launched on August 24, 2023 exploratory offshore drillings for gas in Block 9 in Lebanon's Exclusive Economic Zone. It  announced on August 16, 2023 the arrival of the drilling rig Transocean Barents to Block 9 at 120 kilometers off the coast of Beirut. The  rig is a self-propelled platform that has been operating in the North Sea. The agreement with Transocean Ltd. includes 67 days of operations, the cost of sailing the rig to the drilling site in Block 9, as well as the cost of the rig’s return to the North Sea. The ministry  expects TotalEnergies to reveal the results of the drilling and exploration by the end of the year.  The Right Holders in Block 9 are the operator TotalEnergies EP Block 9 that holds a 35% stake, as well as the non-operators Eni LebanonBV that has a 35% interest and QatarEnergy International Investments (2) LLC that holds a share of 30%. (ICE BEIRUT)

Fonte notizia: Byblos Bank, Lebanon This Week, 25 - 30 September 2023