In its drive to become an oil and/or gas producing country, Lebanon currently faces the challenges of establishing and implementing a sound regulatory framework and an effective Petroleum Administration, the sector’s (supposedly) independent regulatory body. Some of the most crucial aspects of the required system include creating farsighted mechanisms that will first prevent the occurrence of a number of problems that are commonly encountered in hydrocarbon producing provinces, and second, equip the Lebanese government with sufficient powers to address such problems swiftly and efficiently as they arise throughout the development of the upstream oil and/or gas industry in the country. National vs. IOC interests Arguably one of the worst oversights that can be committed by the early drafters of oil and gas legislation is the assumption that International Oil Companies (IOCs) would be always seeking to diligently explore their acreages in search of hydrocarbons, and that once they have found
Malek Takkieddine is a Lebanese lawyer working with international energy companies in the MENA. He lectures on oil and gas law at the Lebanese American University.
