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The Lebanese government has signed an agreement with an international consortium for exploration in Block 8 offshore Lebanon

The consortium, consisting of operator TotalEnergies (35%) with its partners Eni (35%) and QatarEnergy (30%), have signed an agreement with the Lebanese government to enter Block 8 exploration permit offshore Lebanon. Block 8 is located about 70 km off the southern coast of Lebanon in water depths of approximately 1,700-2,100 m. 

TotalEnergies and Eni were several years ago involved in a consortium with Russia’s Novotek to explore in two blocks in the Mediterranean sea, but this was unsuccessful, with the maritime border dispute with Israel (now resolved) impeding progress in one of the blocks. Qatar Energy partnered with TotalEnergies and Eni in early 2023 to explore blocks 4 and 9, marking its first exploration venture in Lebanon. However, exploration in Block 9 has not been successful.

The first step in the consortium’s work on Block 8 will be the acquisition of a 1,200 sq. km 3D seismic survey, in order to further assess the area's exploration potential.

“Although the drilling of the well Qana 31/1 on Block 9 did not give positive results, we remain committed to pursue our exploration activities in Lebanon. We will now focus our efforts on Block 8, together with our partners Eni and QatarEnergy and in close cooperation with Lebanese authorities,” said Patrick Pouyanné, chairman and CEO of TotalEnergies.

His Excellency Mr. Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Qatar's Minister of State for Energy Affairs, the president and CEO of QatarEnergy, said, “We are pleased to secure this exploration block, which allows us to support the development of Lebanon’s upstream oil and gas sector reflecting and reaffirming the State of Qatar’s ongoing commitment towards a brighter future for Lebanon and its people.”

Lebanon’s Ministry of Energy and Water, in cooperation with the Petroleum Administration, is reported to be working on reforms to modernise licensing procedures, in advance of the launch of a fourth licensing round. The government is keen to encourage further international exploration and development to revive the country’s oil and gas sector and aid the recovery of the country’s ailing economy. Lebanon recently signed an agreement with Egypt for the supply of Egyptian gas to ease its chronic power shortages, and also signed a maritime gas zone agreement with Cyprus, opening the way for further exploration and development and the unlocking of Lebanon’s undoubted offshore potential.

The gas and LNG markets face potential oversupply thanks to record FID and demand uncertainty, according to energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie, which identifies five key global gas and LNG themes for 2026:

LNG FID momentum to moderate despite continued project progress

2025 was a record year for final investment decisions, with nine projects totaling 72 mmtpa moving ahead. Three smaller floating LNG projects, two in Argentina and one in Mozambique, advanced, with CP2

Phase 2, Delfin FLNG 1 and Cheniere's Sabine Pass Stage 5 "probable" FID for 2026, supported by strong contracting and cost advantages.

However, with 225 mmtpa of LNG supply currently under construction, the expectation is for lower LNG prices and rising EPC costs. Several projects face delays from inflated construction costs, supply chain constraints and evolving financing conditions. Competition for customers between pre-FID projects and post-FID players is likely to increase. FIDs for well positioned projects, including LNG Canda and

Qatar’s North Field West, may slip into 2027. The outlook for FIDs is expected to moderate in 2026.

Prediction: 4-5 projects take FID in 2026

Asian LNG demand expected to rebound after sharp 2025 contraction

Asian LNG demand contracted by more than 12 Mt year-on-year (4.5%), with China declining by 11 Mt due to a mild winter, high LNG prices and US trade tariffs.

Supply growth of nearly 30 Mt is likely to drive spot prices below oil price parity, encouraging more spot procurement from emerging markets.

China will be the market to watch. Gas demand should grow by 5% on infrastructure projects and real estate recovery. With stable domestic production and flat pipeline imports, LNG will fill the gap, increasing by around 6 Mt but still below 2024 import levels. New gas-fired power stations and regasification capacity will contribute to increased demand across Taiwan, Bangladesh and Vietnam. Weather remains a wild card.

Firmer Asian demand will prove increasingly critical to absorb the wave of new LNG supply.

Prediction: Asian LNG demand to increase by 14 Mt (+5%) in 2026

Russia-Ukraine peace deal could reshape European gas and global LNG balances

The prospect of a US-brokered peace deal in Ukraine fuelled sharp gas price swings in 2025. Should a peace agreement be announced, the most likely market impact would be the lifting of sanctions on Arctic LNG-2 and Portovaya, which could add up to 10 mmtpa to a global LNG market already poised to increase by close to 30 Mt in 2026.

The EU agreed to phase out Russian LNG by 2027 and pipeline gas by 2028. Russian supply under short-term contracts is expected to end from April 2026 for LNG and June 2026 for pipeline flows. The immediate 2026 market impact would be limited, though the EU's resolve may be tested if the ban becomes a peace settlement bargaining point.

Prediction: The EU moves ahead with ban on Russian imports

Henry Hub to trade above US$4/mmbtu as US gas market tightens structurally

Colder than average temperatures briefly drove Henry Hub futures as high as $5.50/mmbtu in December 2025. The US gas market is becoming structurally tighter. LNG exports have increased 17% compared to the same period last year.

LNG export capacity expansion will require incremental feedgas of 2.7 bcfd, with data centres and other sectors adding 3.4 bcfd total in 2026, equivalent to 3%.

As usual, weather dynamics will be key for where prices settle in the winter. Beyond that, the pace and magnitude of price correction will depend on how quickly suppliers respond to tightening fundamentals.

Higher Henry Hub prices longer term will be necessary to promote growth.

Prediction: Henry Hub will average US$4/mmbtu in 2026

EU Methane Regulation and CSDDD face industry criticism over compliance challenges

The EU Methane Regulation (MER) and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) have faced strong criticism from the gas and LNG industries in 2025, especially from major global exporters.

Companies support MER objectives but say compliance difficulties are delaying new contracts and risk disrupting imports as Europe ends Russian reliance.

The CSDDD has already been scaled back by EU officials. Yet critics point out that the EU is imposing obligations on companies outside its jurisdiction, a major sticking point. The US and Qatar warned that the rules could threaten their ability to supply LNG to the bloc.

Prediction: The EU is likely to proceed with both regulations, but further watering down and additional practical compliance measures should be expected

"The gas and LNG industry is navigating a complex transition as abundant new supply meets questions about demand growth and regulatory risks," said Massimo Di Odoardo, vice president, Gas and LNG Research. "The structural tightening of the US gas market, combined with Europe's push to end Russian imports while implementing stricter methane rules, creates both opportunity and risk. How Asia responds to lower prices will be critical to absorbing the supply wave ahead."

Aramco, Honeywell and King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) are collaborating to scale up the development of Crude-to-Chemicals (CTC) technology in a bid to maximise the value of crude oil and reduce costs associated with CTC conversion 

The new CTC pathway will entail converting crude oil directly into light olefins and other high-demand chemicals, resulting in improved fuel efficiency, carbon utilisation, and process economics—allowing for more efficient and cost-effective production at scale.

The collaboration aligns with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 by helping to advance economic diversification, build national research and technology capabilities, and strengthen the Kingdom’s position in the global chemicals market, combining academia and industry expertise to accelerate technology development and national capabilities.

Dr. Ali A. Al-Meshari, Aramco senior vice president of technology oversight & coordination, said, “This collaboration with Honeywell UOP and KAUST furthers Aramco's efforts to drive innovation and shape the future of petrochemicals. By harnessing the power of cutting-edge technologies, we aim to enhance energy efficiency and unlock increased value from every barrel of crude. This novel Crude-to-Chemicals process is aligned with our vision of supporting the global transition towards cleaner, high-performance chemical production. Moreover, this initiative demonstrates our focus on contributing to the growth of a vibrant ecosystem, where the deployment of innovative technologies can create lasting value for our stakeholders, our communities, and the environment.”

Rajesh Gattupalli, Honeywell UOP president, added, “This agreement marks a defining moment in our strategic collaboration with Aramco and KAUST – and in the global evolution of Crude-to-Chemicals technology. With Honeywell UOP’s deep expertise in catalytic process design and commercial scale-up, we’re well positioned to drive this innovation forward.”

DUG Technology (DUG) has deployed 82 new NVIDIA H200 machines, integrating some of the most advanced AI and compute-hardware technologies into the company’s high performance computing (HPC) ecosystem

The expansion adds an impressive 41 petaflops to DUG’s global supercomputing network and will support both growing client demand and future innovation.

Each machine delivers an order-of-magnitude performance uplift relative to DUG's fastest CPU-only hardware, further reducing the company's turnaround times across both testing and production.

Each machine is configured with:

• 8 × NVIDIA H200 GPUs (141 GB each)
• Dual AMD EPYC Turin CPUs
• 4 TB of system memory and 32 TB of local flash
• 100 Gbps networking

“This upgrade significantly increases our total compute power. This translates to even faster delivery of huge datasets and more computationally intensive workloads, from AI-inference applications, to advanced seismic processing and imaging workflows, including our revolutionary DUG Elastic MP-FWI Imaging technology,” said Harry McHugh, DUG’s chief information officer.

All 82 machines are now installed and operational, delivering results for both DUG’s services clients and DUG HPC Cloud users.

DUG is an ASX-listed technology company that provides innovative processing and storage solutions for real-world applications. It delivers proprietary software (DUG Insight), cloud-based HPC as-a-service (DUG HPC Cloud), immersion-cooling (DUG Cool), and edge-computing solutions (DUG Nomad), backed by bespoke support for technology onboarding.

Decades of experience in algorithm development, optimisation and HPC craft enables DUG to solve complex problems for clients. With offices in Perth, London, Houston, Kuala Lumpur, Abu Dhabi and Rio de Janeiro, DUG designs, owns and operates a network of some of the largest supercomputers on Earth.

Despite advances in digital technology, many oil and gas sites across the Middle East still rely on manual entry for tank and vessel inspections, resulting in days of downtime, high scaffolding costs and risk to human life

What if you could change all that with drone technology?

Inspections drones such as the Elios 3 are revolutionising the world of confined space inspections, improving safety, reducing downtime and enhancing operational efficiency.

Join us for an exclusive live webinar hosted by Flyability in association with Oil Review Middle East on ‘Transforming oil and gas operations with the Elios 3 drone’ on Tuesday 2 September at 2pm GST. Industrial experts will explain how drones such as the Elios 3 are transforming confined space inspections, and how you can integrate this technology into your operations seamlessly.

Key highlights:

Drone integration: learn how to safety and effectively implement drones in confined space
Safety and training: understand essential safety protocols and training strategies for your team
ROI: discover how to measure and achieve a strong return on investment with drone technology
Real world use cases: hear from the engineers using drone tech in the field on the impact Elios 3 is having on in oil and gas inspections.

Speakers and host:

Fabio Fata – senior sales manager, Flyability (moderator)
Eralp Koltuk – inspection lead engineer, Tüpraş
Danijel Jovanovic – director of operations, ZainTECH

Take your operations to the next level! Don’t miss out on gaining valuable insights into how drones can make inspections safer, faster and smarter .

From making inspections in hazardous confined spaces much safer to streamlining the whole process and providing valuable real-time data, you will get to see exactly how the Elios 3 is changing the game.

Government and industry responses to UN Environment Programme (UNEP) satellite methane alerts rose from 1% to 12% cent in the past year, and oil and gas methane emissions reporting has improved, but action needs to accelerate to achieve the Global Methane Pledge goal of curbing methane emissions 30% by 2030, according to a new UNEP report

Atmospheric methane continues to be the second biggest driver of climate change after carbon dioxide, responsible for about one-third of the planet’s warming, and real-world data is a critical tool to track and reduce methane emissions.

The fifth edition of the UN Environment Programme’s (UNEP) International Methane Emissions Observatory (IMEO) publication, An Eye on Methane: From measurement to momentum, finds that member oil and gas companies of IMEO’s Oil and Gas Methane Partnership 2.0 (OGMP 2.0) are set to track one-third of emissions from global production using real-world measurements. The OGMP 2.0 is the world’s global standard for methane emissions measurement and mitigation in the oil and gas sector. Over the past five years, OGMP 2.0 membership has more than doubled to 153 companies in the countries, covering 42% of global oil and gas production.

One-third of global oil and gas production reports, or will soon report, emissions at OGMP 2.0’s Gold Standard – meaning emissions are tracked with real-world measurements. This positions a large amount of the global industry to effectively measure – and thus mitigate – emissions. One of the companies achieving 'Gold Standard reporting' in 2024 for having effectively achieved the highest levels of data quality is Eni. OGMP 2.0’s 2025 report recognized Eni for its continued progress, including identifying and quantifying emissions across non-operated assets, as well as training and technical assistance on the LDAR (Leak Detection and Repair) approach to fugitive emissions. LDAR training sessions were organised with the support of UNEP and delivered to National Oil Company (NOC) personnel.

The report highlights that while government and company responses to alerts from IMEO’s Methane Alert and Response System (MARS) have grown tenfold over the previous year, nearly 90% remain unanswered, necessitating an increase in response rates. Through MARS, UNEP has sent over 3,500 alerts about major emissions events across 33 countries. These alerts are based on satellite monitoring and artificial intelligence-supported analysis. IMEO has documented 25 cases of mitigation action in ten countries since MARS was launched in 2022, including across six new countries during the past year.

“Reducing methane emissions can quickly bend the curve on global warming, buying more time for long-term decarbonisation efforts, so it is encouraging that data-driven tools are helping the oil and gas industry to report on their emissions and set ambitious mitigation targets,” said Inger Andersen, executive director of UNEP. “But to keep the Paris Agreement targets within reach, the important progress on reporting must translate into cuts to emissions. Every company should join the Oil and Gas Methane Partnership 2.0, and both governments and operators must respond to satellite alerts – then they must act to reduce emissions.”