Resource wealth buried under paperwork

Another year of waiting has come to pass and yet there is still no movement for Lebanon’s oil and gas sector. Is it a regional conspiracy to prevent the Lebanese government from taking its own decision, or is it the fault of American diplomats, as Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri claimed in November 2015? Almost a year after a ministerial committee was formed to reach consensus on two needed implementation decrees, the Council of Ministers has not yet placed the items on its agenda. Parliament, meanwhile, has to approve an adjustment to the tax regime to account for oil and gas and must debate a law to combat corruption in the sector. A jovial ceremony announcing the launch of Lebanon’s first offshore licensing round back in 2013 promised that the country would soon become an oil and gas producer. In the two years since, the proverbial train has fallen off