Lebanon: The Next Eastern Mediterranean Gas Producer?

Lebanon’s exclusive economic zone forms part of the Levant Basin, which has been estimated to hold up to 122 trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas, in addition to some 1.7 billion barrels of recoverable oil. The development of its hydrocarbon reserves would enable Lebanon to reduce its dependence on imports of oil products, which in 2012 constituted more than 97 percent of its total primary energy supplies. The government is keen to diversify Lebanon’s energy mix away from oil to streng