Cabinet Ministers: Lebanon on Track Concerning Offshore Resources

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Minister of State for Administrative Reform Mohammed Fneish said on Tuesday that the ministry received a number of applications to fill the vacant posts in the board of directors of the oil authority.

“The period has ended to submit the applications and we will move to the next stage on Wednesday,” Fneish told As Safir newspaper.

Energy Minister Jebran Bassil announced on April 6 that the ministry opened the door before applicants to fill the vacant posts in the authority’s board of directors tasked with administrating the oil sector.

Fneish said that the ministry will refer the accepted application to the competent committee made up of the Energy Minister, the Civil Service Board and the ministry of state for administrative reform.

“We can say that we began paving the way for the appointment (of the oil authority)… If all the necessary procedures were carried out, the cabinet might be able to appoint the members of the authority tasked with administrating the oil sector by May,” he noted.

In March, the cabinet approved the appointment of the six members.

According to As Safir, Bassil began a visit to the United States to participate in the annual conference of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists.

“I will seek during the conference to present a clear image of Lebanon’s oil sector,” the minister said.

He revealed that Lebanon is scheduled to host a similar convention on July 3-5.

“We are on the right track,” Bassil said.

Lebanon and Israel are bickering over a zone that consists of about 854 square kilometers and suspected energy reserves there could generate billions of dollars.

The Israeli map conflicts with Lebanon's proposed maritime border.

Lebanon argues its map is in line with an armistice accord drawn up in 1949, an agreement which is not contested by Israel.