The Lebanese Petroleum Administration announced on Monday that the energy ministry of Lebanon has extended until March 2019 the deadline for bids for offshore exploration rights.

The government initially set a July 3, 2024 deadline for the bidding round in the licensing rounds for nine maritime blocs, which were launched in January.

The Lebanese Petroleum Administration announced that the deadline has been extended until March 17, 2025. This will give enough time to monitor and analyze "accelerated regional and international development," to find new ways to attract more companies' interest, and to "work toward achieving economic stability."

The statement failed to mention the ongoing hostilities that have taken place between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah armed group, who have been exchanging fire for over eight months parallel to the Gaza War.

A source in the industry said that the firefights were a major reason for the extension of the deadline.

Lebanon has repeatedly extended licensing rounds, sometimes because there were no applications.

After years of talks mediated by the United States, Lebanon officially delineated its border with Israel on October 20, 2022. The hope was that this would lead to an influx in bids for oil exploration and gas drilling in its waters.

In a recent address, Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah threatened the Mediterranean. (Reporting and editing by Jan Harvey, Susan Fenton, and Maya Gebeily)