Lebanon Could Have Promising Oil, Gas Reserves

Lebanon could hold reserves of almost 30 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 660 million barrels of oil.

Country’s energy minister Gebrane Bassil, speaking at Arab Economic Forum on Thursday, said that scanning was now complete on 70 percent of the country’s territorial waters -- an area of some 15,000 sq kms, AFP reported.

Speaking to AFP, Bassil said the amounts were 'very large and promising as initial estimates.'

The minister said that if all deadlines are met, first exploration phase could be complete 2016 and 2017 and then development and production could begin.

He has played down the risk of conflict with Israel over the potential reserves, despite a longstanding dispute over the maritime boundary between the two neighbours, which remain technically in a state of war, AFP reported.