Five companies have applied to the tender conducted by Total to carry out drilling work, three of them are American (Valaris PLC, Noble Corporation, Transocean INC), a multinational (Saipem Drilling) and a fifth is Norwegian (Odfjell Drilling).
Al-Akhbar stated that Total will adopt a strategy in drilling work that suggests seriousness and an attempt to shorten time. It is customary for companies to drill exploratory wells to estimate quantities and study their quality. Upon ensuring the availability of commercial quantities with acceptable specifications, it moves to the second stage by drilling production wells. According to the information, the French company will work to adopt an engineering method in drilling the exploratory well 7 km from Line 23, which enables it to be used as a production well when confirming the presence of commercial quantities, which reduces expenses, shortens the stages, saves time, and makes it possible to start production from The field immediately after the completion of development operations.
Among the ideas that the company will work on, and reported to the Ministry of Energy, are plans to invest “quickly and thoughtfully” the available quantities as soon as their existence is confirmed, by using them in the production of electric energy within a period ranging between two and three years in the event of discoveries. However, these plans must take into account the laying of a pipeline from the Qana field off Naqoura to the Zahrani thermal plant over a distance of more than 60 kilometers. The construction of the pipes requires extending them towards the shore, and then transporting them by land towards the Zahrani Thermal Plant, with the bends that follow, due to the high possibility of damage from sea water, in addition to the high cost of maintaining the pipes in the water compared to those on land, in addition to the necessity Accurately calculate depth levels. This should also be accompanied by settling real estate issues where the line will pass, and taking into account the issue of providing financing for a project that is not easy to accomplish in a bankrupt country, which makes it a dream at the present time. However, sources accompanying the oil and gas file told Al-Akhbar that the contract with Total and Eni as energy production and investment companies, not just gas and oil exploration and production, makes the project verifiable according to conditions and criteria to be discussed between the operator and the Lebanese state. However, all this remains subject to the availability of commercial quantities within the field.