Lebanon has approved a new gas exploration and production agreement for Block 8 in its offshore waters with a consortium made up of TotalEnergies, QatarEnergy, and Italy’s Eni, in a move seen as reviving the country’s stalled oil and gas ambitions despite ongoing political and security instability.

The Cabinet’s decision last week effectively reactivates seismic survey operations that had been frozen for years, marking a rare piece of positive economic news for Lebanon as it struggles to attract foreign investment.

Under the new agreement, the consortium will carry out a three-dimensional (3D) seismic survey over the next three years and prepare studies based on its findings. Once the data is analyzed, the companies will decide whether to proceed to the drilling phase or withdraw.

This contract differs from last year’s, when the same three-year timeline included both surveying and drilling. The consortium had wanted to move directly to drilling, but the Energy Ministry insisted that it begin with the survey.

No new companies were added to the agreement after Lebanon’s third offshore licensing round failed to attract bidders, reflecting investor caution amid the country’s economic collapse and political paralysis. The government therefore opted to continue with its existing partners, TotalEnergies, QatarEnergy, and Eni.

Energy experts view the new agreement as an encouraging sign that Lebanon’s energy sector,  long seen as a potential source of badly needed revenue, is showing signs of life.

“Block 8 is the only area that has never undergone any geological survey,” Laury Haytayan, an oil and gas governance expert for the Middle East and North Africa, told Nidaa al-Watan. “Most of it was located in previously disputed maritime zones, and no Lebanese or foreign company was allowed to conduct surveys there until now.”

She said previous contracts with firms that had conducted partial surveys were canceled after the government decided it was better for the exploration companies themselves to perform the seismic work, rather than rely on third parties that would later sell the data.

Haytayan added that conducting the survey now is “necessary,” given that Israel may already be carrying out its own exploration activities near the shared maritime boundary.

“The Israeli side might have already started surveying through the same company,” she said. “Lebanon needs to know what’s happening on its borders and act accordingly.”

She also noted that under the Lebanon-Israel maritime border agreement, both sides are required to notify the United States if shared reservoirs are discovered, with Washington responsible for informing the relevant parties.

Resuming seismic operations in Block 8, Haytayan said, sends a positive message that international companies are once again willing to engage in Lebanon, even if at a cautious pace.

“Restarting the survey and exploration process gives Lebanese citizens a sense that work is moving forward again,” she said.

Still, she acknowledged lingering frustration over the slow progress made since 2018, when the same consortium secured rights to Blocks 4, 9, and 8. The government had expected faster results, but Lebanon’s unstable environment and the absence of new bidders left it with limited options.

Haytayan expressed hope that exploration would move ahead more swiftly this time and that the 3D seismic survey would not take the full three years allotted.

“Three years is a long time for a survey phase,” she said. “But it’s still better to have companies operating — even if the terms aren’t perfect — than to have no activity at all. Given the current conditions, Lebanon cannot afford to lose what little investor confidence it still has.”