NNA – Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati hopes that “the file of demarcating the Lebanese maritime borders will reach its end soon, following the efforts made by the American mediator, Amos Hochstein, succeeded in reaching a draft agreement that preserved Lebanese rights.”
While receiving from Deputy Speaker Elias Bou Saab a copy of the final draft of the agreement this morning in the Grand Serail, Prime Minister Mikati said: “The unified Lebanese position in this file and Lebanon’s adherence to its rights and demands led to this positive result, and we all hope that matters will reach their conclusions and then direct.” the operational steps to explore for gas in Lebanese waters.
President Mikati thanked the US administration for “the effort it made in achieving what was achieved, especially Mr. Amos Hochstein, who led the negotiation process with precision, professionalism and patience.”
He thanked “France, which directly contributed to reaching what was agreed upon and overcoming the obstacles that arose during the indirect negotiations.”
Total company
President Mikati met with Energy Minister Walid Fayyad and a delegation from the French company “Total” that included Chairman and General Manager Romain Lamartinear, Company Director and Director of Oil Exploration and Production Laurent Vivier, and North Africa Director Jean Gailey.
During the meeting, President Mikati asked the representatives of Total to immediately take the executive procedures for exploration in Lebanese waters.
generous
After the meeting, Minister Fayyad said: We held a meeting with His Excellency President Mikati, and the director of the Middle East region at Total and the local team on the ground at Total Energy joined us. This file comes to its positive conclusions in the interest of Lebanon, whether in terms of resources and our right to our entire share in the “Qana” field without anyone participating in it, in addition to expediting the issue of exploration, that is, solving the issue of demarcation and the total commitment at the same time to Total and the consortium to start work Excavation and its implementation, a process that takes time in addition to preparing engineering and logistical issues.
He revealed that “work will be serious on this issue, and this is what Total promised us, and this is a very positive matter for Lebanon and will allow it to be a country on the oil map of the Mediterranean region, and Total and Eni’s commitment to this matter.”
He added, “I would like to commend this step, and we are waiting for President Elias Bou Saab to meet with the three presidents to finalize the demarcation paper, and we, as the Ministry of Energy, are more concerned with the exploration that will happen in conjunction with the resolution of the demarcation issue without delay, and this is what we stressed.”
In response to a question, he said: “Logistics matters need time, but work will start immediately, and the company takes the matter seriously and there is no need for negativity in dealing with it, and I will have a meeting with the company today at the Ministry of Energy to continue talking regarding this issue.”
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