A positive start for Lebanon’s Petroleum Administration

Lebanon’s progress to cultivate wealth from its offshore oil and gas resources has left us with more questions than answers about the process. While the country will not extract any resources for at least five years, the agreements being negotiated in the next 12 months will determine whether Lebanon gets a good deal or not. Over the course of five days, seven leading thinkers will discuss different aspects of the resources — from avoiding environmental destruction to a potential war with Israel — each with the aim of helping provoke awareness about what is going on in this crucial period. For our first segment, Mona Sukkarieh discusses the Petroleum Administration — the six-member body that is tasked with negotiating with international oil companies – and finds some reasons to be positive.     Lebanon’s Petroleum Administration (PA) will play a fundamental role in the country’s oil and gas sector in