Offshore petroleum investments made riskier

ENAR

In light of the recent Lebanon Investment in Infrastructure Conference as well as the highly anticipated  CEDRE conference (also known as Paris IV), it is undeniable that attracting private investment is Lebanon’s top priority. This comes shortly after the country signed petroleum contracts with international oil companies (IOCs) for the exploration and production of offshore petroleum resources in Block 4 and Block 9. This major step for the Lebanese petroleum sector is anticipated to bring investments not only for the offshore upstream petroleum sector (exploration and production), but eventually to other sectors contributing to the overall petroleum value chain. To draw in private investment, Lebanon faces the challenge of providing an attractive investment environment. The BMI Report (compiled by BMI Research, a research firm that provides macroeconomic, industry, and financial market analysis) for the first quarter of 2018 stated Lebanon was a relatively high-risk location for foreign direct investment. According