​President Aoun emphasized the need to start excavation in "Block No.9" quickly to make up for the time delay due to indirect negotiations to demarcate the southern maritime borders.

President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, met a delegation from Total Energy.

The delegation included: Director of the Middle East and North Africa in the company, Mr. Laurent Vivier, Vice President of the company in the Middle East, North Africa and Yemen Jean Jaylet, and Director, Romain de la Martinier.

In addition, the General Director of the Presidency of the Republic, Dr. Antoine Choucair, and the members of the Petroleum Sector Authority: Wissam Shabat, Wissam Al-Dhahabi, and Gadi Daaboul also attended.

The delegation briefed President Aoun on the preparations that Total Energy is making in Lebanon, in preparation for the start of exploration in “Block No. 9” in the exclusive economic zone in the south, after completing the necessary transactions and administrative procedures.  

The delegation also expressed their happiness to work again in oil and gas exploration in Lebanon, to complement the work carried out by Total in "Block No. 4".

Moreover, the Total delegation indicated that the drilling rig will be brought in starting from the year 2023 to start exploration, according to the texts of the agreement with the Petroleum Sector Authority in Lebanon, which receives, in turn, the data available during the exploration operations.

For his part, President Aoun expressed his hope that the exploration of "Block No. 9" would begin quickly to make up for the time that had passed due to the indirect negotiations that were taking place in order to demarcate the southern maritime borders, wishing success for the "Total" team to reach positive results.

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