Qatar replaces Russian company in Lebanon gas exploration

Qatar replaces Russian company in Lebanon gas exploration

By BASSEM MROUE , AP

BEIRUT — Lebanon, two international oil giants and state-owned oil and gas company Qatar Energy signed an agreement Sunday that the Qatari firm will join a consortium that will search for gas in the Mediterranean Sea off Lebanon’s coast.

The deal inked in Beirut brings Qatar into Lebanon’s gas exploration market three months after Lebanon and Israel signed a U.S.-mediated maritime border agreement ending a yearslong dispute. Qatar Energy is replacing a Russian company that withdrew from the Lebanese market in September.