* Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
BEIRUT - Lebanon, as the Lebanese themselves are quick to tell you, is a country in which nothing is simple. The discovery of untapped reserves of natural gas on their doorstep is not just an economic opportunity, it's a geopolitical challenge.
It's a story, as many in the Eastern Mediterranean, coloured by mutual suspicion, disputed versions of history and bitter regional rivalry. That is before you consider Lebanon's own delicate communal and confessional balance.
Israel is drilling for gas. Lebanon and Israel, technically at war, now have a fresh dispute - maritime borders. Cyprus and Turkey, with their own long-standing territorial dispute, have rival projects for becoming a gas hub.
But for the people of Lebanon, the discovery of offshore gas reserves could be a real economic game-changer if the government and parliament can agree on legislative and policy choices that make the most of any gas that is found.
That challenge was at the heart of a 23-25 November Thomson Reuters Foundation workshop that brought together eight TV and text journalists plus a journalist who runs the web portal of one of Lebanon's political parties
POWER OUTAGES
The Beirut workshop, run in partnership with the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD), took place as the Ministry of Energy and Water worked to meet its Q1 2012 deadline for a first round of licensing negotiations.
Lebanon, traditional playground of the Middle East, is today a country plagued by power outages. The emerging shape of its future as a producer of gas, and maybe oil, is a story crying out to be told.
Facilitators Nicholas Phythian and Ghaida Ghantous focused on giving participants a basic understanding of the oil and gas industry and the legislative, economic and social challenges Lebanon is likely to face.
With such a wide range of topics to cover in such a short time, there was a serious danger of information overload but the participants coped remarkably well with the flood of new ideas and participated fully.
THE ABC OF OIL & GAS
“The course gave us a clear picture as we enter the world of oil and gas,” Jaafar Fayssal Al Attar, a reporter with Assafir newspaper said afterwards. “Before this course we were in the dark about the subject,” he added.
“Now I know the ABC of the oil and gas file and I can do investigative pieces before they start extracting,” Mona Yousef Tahini of Manar TV commented.
The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that there are 122 trillion cubic feet of gas in the Levant Basin, an area taking in territorial waters around Lebanon, Israel, Cyprus and Syria. While less than in Russia, Iran and Qatar, it is still a significant deposit in an energy-hungry world.
The Lebanese government is keen for exploration to start, yet the legislative framework is not in place. The regulatory authority that will help the Lebanese government get the best deal and monitor the industry has yet to be unveiled.
But negotiating a good financial deal with one or more international oil or gas companies will just be the first in a series of challenges.
FINITE RESOURCE
Oil and gas are an asset but they do not last forever. For the government, a further challenge will be ensuring Lebanese nationals have a real stake in the industry. Another will be investing in a sustainable post-oil or gas future.
“The most important thing is to have a clear vision of what we want and how to achieve this,” Akram Hasan, secretary of Lebanon's Public works, Water and Energy Committee, told participants.
Power generation and gas processing are obvious targets for investment.
Participants suggested that Lebanon could play to its traditional strengths by investing in such sectors as banking and financial services or tourism and leisure, with further education and private health care as other options.
With more Lebanese living abroad than at home, another potentially profitable niche could be developing Lebanon's role as a link between the Arab world and the world at large.
THE MONEY TRIAL
Investment aside, a major problem in both emerging and established oil economies is tracking the huge amounts of money that the industry generates.
Laury Haytayan of Revenue Watch Institute, which is working with Thomson Reuters Foundation on an Oil and Gas reporting project in Africa, briefed participants on international transparency and accountability initiatives designed to help civil society track what happens to the money.
Zahy Gebrael, an oil analyst with a particular interest in the financial side of the industry, introduced participants to the money trail, building on ideas explored in a series of knowledge modules.
Tony Dagher, a business consultant and oil analyst who worked in the natural gas industry in the Gulf, offered participants insights into how companies think as they enter the all-important contract negotiations with host governments.
Participants came from Assafir and the Daily Star newspapers, Future News TV, Al-Manar TV, Al-Mayadeen TV, the L'Orient-Le Jour newspaper and the Kataeb website.
A FOLLOW-UP WORKSHOP?
They left the workshop with a range of interesting story ideas of their own. They have an opportunity to submit these and subsequent stories for a WFD 2012 prize for parliamentary reporting.
Many participants said they would have appreciated a five-day workshop. “The course was intense!” Wassim Sami Marwa of the Daily Star newspaper commented. “Maybe it was better to hold it throughout an entire week to allow participants to assimilate the information.”
At least one participant said they would welcome a follow-up workshop once Lebanon started producing gas.
