TotalEnergies, Eni and QatarEnergy sign Lebanon gas deal
12 January 2026
France’s TotalEnergies, Italy’s Eni and QatarEnergy have signed an agreement with the Lebanese government to enter the Block 8 permit in Lebanese waters to explore for gas reserves.
Under the terms of the deal, TotalEnergies will be the operator of Block 8 and hold a 35% stake, while Eni and Qatar Energy will hold 35% and 30% respectively.
Block 8 lies along the previously contested maritime border between Israel and Lebanon.
In 2022, an agreement was signed to end the long-running dispute over the maritime border.
In a statement, TotalEnergies said: “The consortium’s initial work programme on Block 8 consists of the acquisition of a 1,200 square-kilometre 3D seismic survey, in order to further assess the area’s exploration potential.”
The Lebanese Petroleum Administration (LPA) hopes that international oil companies will make discoveries that will boost the country’s struggling economy.
Lebanon signed its first offshore oil and gas exploration and production agreement in February 2018, awarding Blocks 4 and 9 to a consortium of Total, Eni and Russia’s Novatek after a bid round in 2017.
In January 2023, a deal was signed under which Qatar Energy replaced Novatek.
Under the deal, Qatar Energy took Novatek’s 20% stake in addition to 5% each from Eni and TotalEnergies, leaving the Qatari firm with a total stake of 30%. TotalEnergies and Eni each hold a 35% stake.
In Total’s latest statement, Patrick Pouyanne, the company’s chairman and CEO, said: “Although the drilling of the well Qana 31/1 on Block 9 did not give positive results, we remain committed to pursuing our exploration activities in Lebanon.
“We will now focus our efforts on Block 8, together with our partners Eni and QatarEnergy and in close cooperation with Lebanese authorities.”
Block 8 has long been considered the most promising exploration area in Lebanese waters, but previous efforts to award the exploration permit have been repeatedly delayed amid concerns about border tensions and political instability in Lebanon.
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