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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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Oil Edges Up on Strong US GDP Data

A pumpjack brings oil to the surface in the Monterey Shale, California, US April 29, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo
A pumpjack brings oil to the surface in the Monterey Shale, California, US April 29, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo
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Oil Edges Up on Strong US GDP Data

A pumpjack brings oil to the surface in the Monterey Shale, California, US April 29, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo
A pumpjack brings oil to the surface in the Monterey Shale, California, US April 29, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo

Oil prices were up slightly on Friday on stronger-than-expected US economic data that raised investor expectations for increasing crude oil demand from the world's largest energy consumer.

But concerns about soft economic conditions in Asia's biggest economies, China and Japan, capped gains.

Brent crude futures for September rose 7 cents to $82.44 a barrel by 0014 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude for September increased 4 cents to $78.32 per barrel, Reuters reported.

In the second quarter, the US economy grew at a faster-than-expected annualised rate of 2.8% as consumers spent more and businesses increased investments, Commerce Department data showed. Economists polled by Reuters had predicted US gross domestic product would grow by 2.0% over the period.

At the same time, inflation pressures eased, which kept intact expectations that the Federal Reserve would move forward with a September interest rate cut. Lower interest rates tend to boost economic activity, which can spur oil demand.

Still, continued signs of trouble in parts of Asia limited oil price gains.

Core consumer prices in Japan's capital were up 2.2% in July from a year earlier, data showed on Friday, raising market expectations of an interest rate hike in the near term.

But an index that strips away energy costs, seen as a better gauge of underlying price trends, rose at the slowest annual pace in nearly two years, suggesting that price hikes are moderating due to soft consumption.

China, the world's biggest crude importer, surprised markets for a second time this week by conducting an unscheduled lending operation on Thursday at steeply lower rates, suggesting authorities are trying to provide heavier monetary stimulus to prop up the economy.