QatarEnergy CEO and Qatar's Minister of Energy Saad al-Kaabi and Eni Chief Executive Officer Claudio Descalzi attend a signing ceremony as QatarEnergy joins TotalEnergies and Eni to explore Lebanon's offshore oil and gas, in Beirut, Lebanon, on Jan. 29, 2023. (Credit: Mohamed Azakir/Reuters)
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Qatari state-owned QatarEnergies yesterday entered into a consortium licensed to explore Lebanese offshore oil and gas blocks. QatarEnergies took on a 30 percent stake in the consortium Russian Novatek exited last year, partnering with French TotalEnergies and Italian Eni to drill blocks 9 and 4 of the Lebanese Exclusive Economic Zone. Energy expert Naji Abi Aad told AFP that Qatari foreign relations could contribute “a political guarantee" to the oil and gas exploration. At the signing ceremony, TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanné reported “disappointing” results from Block 4 after the conclusion of indirect maritime border negotiations with Israel last October sparked hopes of an oil boom for Lebanon at the start of a fourth year of economic crisis.
Passport renewals will soon be available without prior appointments, General Security head Abbas Ibrahim indicated on Friday as he announced that his security body would “cancel the [passport renewal appointment booking] platform within a month.” Waiting times for appointments on the platform exceeded a year as “the demand for passports exceeded [General Security’s] technical capacity” amid shortages of blank travel documents. General Security announced earlier this month that it will begin reissuing biometric passports after a monthslong hiatus, while Ibrahim announced that as of Feb.15 travel documents will be issued at the pre-crisis rate after the resolution of a financing issue that engendered the yearlong queues.
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati's press office said on Saturday there would be no cabinet meeting this coming Thursday, contrary to the prime minister's promise on Friday to convene a government meeting "next week" devoted to the education sector. Public school teachers have been on strike for over three weeks in an effort to obtain improved compensation after the sharp depreciation of their salaries, despite adjustments, owing to the lira’s plummeting value on the parallel market. The strike follows a rejected salary bonus of $5 per working day. Educators are demanding adjusted salaries, a foreign currency supplement, better health care coverage, higher transport allowances and a review of contracts. Due to the cabinet’s caretaker status and the ongoing presidential vacuum, government meetings have stirred controversy, with Free Patriotic Movement-affiliated ministers boycotting the last two cabinet sessions.
Mount Lebanon’s first investigating judge, Nicolas Mansour, ordered the release of 13 vehicle registration center employees suspected of corruption, a judicial source told L'Orient Today on Friday. The released officials are accused of “minor offenses” and were released on LL200 million bail and a four-month suspension from returning to work. "In total, 110 people are still under arrest, in the cases of the vehicle registration centers and land registries," said the judicial source, months after a series of arrests and charges targeting high-ranking employees, including the director-general of the Road Traffic Department, Hoda Salloum.
Electricité du Liban on Friday announced the launch of the first phase of a plan to improve power production, which, if completed, would meet half of Lebanon’s estimated electricity demand. The first phase of the plan allows the generation of 250 megawatts, equivalent to a few hours of power per day. The next phase of improved power production is set to begin on Feb. 10 if several "success factors'' in the plan are achieved. The implementation of subsequent phases will depend on continued funding. The maximum power generated is expected to reach 1,500 megawatts, which is half the country’s estimated pre-crisis demand of 3,000 megawatts. The plan follows an emergency cabinet meeting during which funding for fuel imports and power plant maintenance were agreed, which would allow production to resume after several weeks of shutdown in Lebanon’s two largest power plants, Zahrani in South Lebanon and Deir Ammar in North Lebanon.
Free Patriotic Movement head Gebran Bassil yesterday said he is “worried” about his party’s alliance with Hezbollah, citing continuing disagreements regarding the presidential election. “We agree with Hezbollah on the ‘Resistance,’ but that is not enough because there is disagreement on the priority of building a state,” Bassil said, adding the FPM is “starting to have question marks about respect for the partnership.” Bassil’s comments come after a meeting between the two parties last Monday after weeks of tension which was seen as a sign of return to normal bilateral relations. The FPM, which has been boycotting cabinet sessions, considers Hezbollah’s participation in government meetings a betrayal. Bassil criticized what he saw as an attempt to “elect a president without Christians,” notably Hezbollah’s support of Marada head Sleiman Frangieh despite his disagreement with the move. The FPM head announced his potential run for president if the party’s “preliminary list of candidates” fails to garner support and parliamentary groups fail to implement reforms before the election of “any candidate who has a majority.” Meanwhile, Forces of Change MPs Najat Saliba and Melhem Khalaf are still protesting inside the Parliament building for a second week after the failure of the 11th presidential election session to name a president. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has not yet scheduled a 12th session.
In case you missed it, here’s our must-read story from over the weekend: “How the head of port security was able to leave Lebanon for the US ”
Compiled by Abbas Mahfouz
CORRECTION: An earlier version of today's Morning Brief erroneously reported that Prime Minister Najib Mikati would convene a cabinet session this week; however, although Mikati on Friday indicated a session dedicated to education would take place this week, his media office on Saturday said none would be held.