Summary
After the euphoria sparked a few years ago, the prospects for oil and gas discoveries offshore Lebanon and the measures needed to launch exploration and production operations are at a standstill since 2013 . The main reasons behind this paralysis are the sudden collapse of international oil and gas prices, the rivalry between some political leaders on the typically Lebanese epidemic called "mukhasasa," the nonapproval by the government of two crucial implementation decrees of the 2010 oil law, the dispute with Israel over the delineation of maritime borders, and the arguments raised against active and direct state participation in the nascent oil and gas industry, and hence against a rapid establishment of a national oil company.
Abnormal oil and gas revenue: Even after the improvements introduced to the initial version of the EPA draft model, the pending decree provides for very poor fiscal and financial conditions under which Lebanon could expect from gas production less than half of net profits of the operating companies, including a miserable 4 percent royalty (or less than a third of the standard 12.5 percent applied worldwide), a theoretical 30 percent minimum share of the profits (assuming the expenditures and receipts declared by the companies correspond to reality), and a 15 percent income tax.
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