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Offshore Oil and Gas Exploration Equipment Arrives in Beirut

Energy Minister Nada Boustani inspects Total's oil and gas exploration equipment at Beirut port. (Dalati & Nohra)
Energy Minister Nada Boustani inspects Total's oil and gas exploration equipment at Beirut port. (Dalati & Nohra)
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Offshore Oil and Gas Exploration Equipment Arrives in Beirut

Energy Minister Nada Boustani inspects Total's oil and gas exploration equipment at Beirut port. (Dalati & Nohra)
Energy Minister Nada Boustani inspects Total's oil and gas exploration equipment at Beirut port. (Dalati & Nohra)

Equipment to explore for offshore oil and gas from the Total company has arrived in Lebanon.

Caretaker Energy Minister Nada al-Boustani inspected the equipment at Beirut port on Saturday.

Total will kick off exploration in Lebanon’s Exclusive Economic Zone once it completes its operations in Egypt.

Boustani revealed that a ship with more equipment is set to arrive in Beirut on Sunday.

In 2018, February, Lebanon signed its first offshore oil and gas exploration and production agreements with the Total-Eni-Novatek consortium for offshore Blocks 4 and 9.

Former Energy Minister Cesar Abi Khalil had previously said exploration in Block 4 would start in 2019, while exploration in Block 9 would begin on the southern maritime border in 2020 after the final well is determined.

Lebanon has an unresolved maritime border dispute with Israel over a triangular area of sea of around 860 sq km (330 square miles) that extends along the edge of three of its total 10 blocks.

Israel is putting pressure on Total to halt exploration in Block 9. It claims that part of it is located in its Exclusive Economic Zone. But Lebanon insists on its right to explore it.

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Japan’s Nikkei Retreats from 5-Month Peak, Set to Rise Nearly 20% for Year

A pedestrian walks past an electronic board showing the closing numbers on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, with graphs illustrating the daily movement (L) and for the last 12 months (R), along a street in central Tokyo on December 30, 2024. (AFP)
A pedestrian walks past an electronic board showing the closing numbers on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, with graphs illustrating the daily movement (L) and for the last 12 months (R), along a street in central Tokyo on December 30, 2024. (AFP)
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Japan’s Nikkei Retreats from 5-Month Peak, Set to Rise Nearly 20% for Year

A pedestrian walks past an electronic board showing the closing numbers on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, with graphs illustrating the daily movement (L) and for the last 12 months (R), along a street in central Tokyo on December 30, 2024. (AFP)
A pedestrian walks past an electronic board showing the closing numbers on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, with graphs illustrating the daily movement (L) and for the last 12 months (R), along a street in central Tokyo on December 30, 2024. (AFP)

Japan's Nikkei share average retreated from the previous session's five-month high on Monday, the last trading day in 2024, as investors locked in profits on a market set to be up a fifth for the year.

The Nikkei had fallen 0.75% to 39,979.68 by the midday break, after opening 0.11% higher. It ended at a five-month closing high on Friday after a three-session winning streak.

The index is up 19.5% so far this year, putting it just behind Pakistan and Taiwan for the year.

The broader Topix was down 0.42% to 2,789.98.

"Investors sold stocks today because they could not find clear reasons for the Nikkei to cross the 40,000 levels," said Fumio Matsumoto, chief strategist at Okasan Securities.

"But that does not mean investors are pessimistic about the market in the coming year. They may just want to avoid risks during the market close in Japan for the new year, which is longer than usual."

The Japanese markets will reopen on Jan. 6 after closing for the new year holidays from the next session.

Chip-testing equipment maker Advantest fell 3.83% to drag the Nikkei the most.

Nissan Motor slipped 5.64% to become the biggest percentage loser on the Nikkei. Nissan's shares surged nearly 40% this month as merger talks between the automaker and peer Honda Motor surfaced.

Makino Milling Machine's shares were untraded and were set to a daily limit of 10,750 yen after a surprise unsolicited takeover bid by Japanese manufacturing giant Nidec.

Takehiko Masuzawa, trading head at Phillip Securities Japan, said the Nikkei rose last week as investors bought back stocks to cover their short positions ahead of the long market holiday.