Dripping away

A “minor delay” is how he put it. In the weeks before the September 2 deadline for the Cabinet to meet and ensure the bidding process over the rights to extract Lebanon’s offshore oil and gas stayed on track, caretaker Minister of Energy and Water Gebran Bassil seemed increasingly incredulous that the country looked set to miss its target, using desperate measures to encourage his fellow politicians to take action. In what appeared to be a faintly disguised bid to force their hands, he even made the implausible claim that Israel could start stealing Lebanon’s resources if the bidding process was delayed. But his efforts were to no avail, and in the end he tried to put a brave face on it, stressing that the bidding would only be extended from November until December and that he would keep searching for a deal. This was followed last week by another