Middle East and North Africa Director at the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI) Laury Haytayan explained to “Political Pulse” that TotalEnergies wouldn’t have proceeded with exploratory works in Bloc 9 without the maritime border deal and a US-French political push.
Haytayan then highlighted the importance of waiting for the result of the drilling that will take place in Bloc 9 before jumping to conclusions and forming a committee in charge of the sovereign wealth fund.
She also commented on the purpose of US Special Envoy Amos Hochstein’s upcoming visit to Lebanon, indicating that his presence in Beirut might be linked to a celebration of the start of the exploratory drilling in Bloc 9, as he played a major role in securing the maritime border deal.
