Lebanon is going to commence drilling activities for hydrocarbons in its waters within the last week of February, according to the Lebanese Agriculture and Culture Minister, Abbas Mortada, the Daily Star reported.

“Drilling for oil will start this Thursday [February 27]…This is an opportunity to advance the national economy and recover from the difficult economic crisis,” Mortada said in a statement to Lebanon’s National News Agency.

The exploration activities will be led by the Bahamas-flagged Tungsten Explorer, which is expected to reach Lebanon on February 24.

It is important mentioning that Total, which is part of a consortium that includes Italy’s Eni and Russia’s Novatek, will have 60 days to begin drilling for hydrocarbons in Block 4.

In that context, Natural Resource Governance Institute’s [the Middle East and North Africa] MENA Director, Laury Haytayan, remarked that there are three possible outcomes of these exploration activities. The first outcome is to show a dry well, or there would be a probability of finding quantities of crude oil and natural gas, or they would make a commercial discovery.

“The discovery of a commercial quantity would be a game-changer for Lebanon … but finding something that is not commercially viable is still very exciting,” Haytayan added.