Lebanon may have more gas deposits than Cyprus, Syria

PanARMENIAN.Net - Lebanon may have more offshore natural gas deposits than Cyprus and Syria, based on a recent 3-D seismic survey, the CEO of Norway-based Spectrum Company said, according to albawaba.com.

“My humble opinion based on the data that I have is that there is greater potential [for natural gas] offshore Lebanon than offshore Cyprus and offshore Syria,” David Rowlands told The Daily Star.

He added that the Levantine basin offshore Lebanon was more perceptive than offshore Cyprus and Syria.

These results, Rowlands stressed, were based on data gathered from Lebanon, Cyprus and Syria by Spectrum and its partner Dolphin Geophysical, which is surveying the Lebanese coast with its high-capacity seismic vessel, M/V Polar Duke.“We compared the data of offshore Lebanon with the data of offshore Cyprus and Syria.”

But Rowlands declined to compare the potential size of Lebanon’s natural gas to Israel. M/V Polar Duke has been surveying the Lebanese coast since last weekend and the initial results, according to officials in the company, were more than encouraging. “As of today, the Polar Duke has acquired 650 square kilometers off the Lebanese coast. The productivity of the vessel is excellent and much better than average,” Rowlands explained.

Rowlands added that processing this data would not be completed until January 2013.“The processing of the data will be then done onshore. The early results have shown us structure which has never been seen before. The geological structures are favorable for accumulation of gas and this has never been seen before at this early stage,” Rowlands said.