Turkey is ready to supply electricity to Syria and Lebanon, and a team of government officials is already in Syria working on resolving its energy issues, Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said.

“Maybe the electricity that Syria and Lebanon need will initially be met by exporting it from Turkey, and of course, we can see the picture a little more after seeing the situation in the transmission network,” Bayraktar told reporters in Turkey’s southeastern city of Sanliurfa.

The ministry delegation arrived in Damascus on Saturday and, according to Bayraktar’s previous comments, was going to discuss possible energy cooperation, including transmitting electricity to ease power shortages.

Last week, Caretaker Minister of Energy, Walid Fayyad, held talks with his Turkish counterpart Alparslan Bayraktar in Ankara, over the means of cooperation between Lebanon and Turkey and the re-put the Bisri water dam into service.

During the meeting, Fayyad explained the massive losses at Lebanon’s Electricity (EDL) caused by the Israeli attacks.

Talks also touched on the offshore gas and oil exploration. The Turkish side expressed interest in conducting exploration works in the Lebanese waters.

On the other side, Minister Fayad, relaunched the process of 3D seismic surveys in one of the blocks of the exclusive economic zone (EEZ), where Lebanon has long hoped to confirm the presence of offshore hydrocarbons. The ministry granted a new license to TGS, a company specializing in seismic exploration, to conduct these surveys.

“The license allows for a 3D seismic survey covering 1,300 square kilometers in Block 8. TGS will also analyze existing data from across the Lebanese Sea, utilizing modern and advanced technologies,” explained Fayad at a news conference in Beirut, where he formally handed over the license to a company representative.

This process marks the reactivation of an initiative originally launched in August 2023, before the outbreak of the Gaza war, which had been temporarily halted due to security concerns. At that time, the Ministry had granted an initial license to UK-based Geoex MCG and Brightskies Geoscience (BGS), aiming to boost the appeal of Lebanon’s offshore hydrocarbon potential and explore the seabed under Lebanese sovereignty.

According to a source familiar with the matter, the license was granted to TGS by mutual agreement. TGS is the result of a recent merger between the American company PGS and the Norwegian firm TGS. Both companies had previously conducted Lebanon’s first 2D and 3D seismic surveys in 2000 and 2010. In 2019, TGS further strengthened its position by acquiring Spectrum, a company also involved in seabed surveys in Lebanon’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

Block 8 is one of three blocks located near the maritime boundary between Lebanon’s exclusive economic zone and that of Israel. The border dispute between the two countries was resolved through an agreement reached in October 2022, following U.S.-brokered negotiations. Meanwhile, the exploration process for some of Lebanon’s EEZ blocks, launched in 2018 and entrusted to a consortium led by TotalEnergies, has yet to produce any concrete results.

Previousely, The Lebanese Petroleum Administration LPA announced on July 2024, that the Ministry of Energy has decided to extend the deadline for companies to submit their bids for oil and gas exploration rights in offshore fields as part of the third licensing round.

According to this announcement, the new deadline will be March 17, 2025, instead of July 3, 2024.

The Ministry stated that postponing the deadline will allow sufficient time to monitor “the accelerating regional and international developments… and work on finding solutions to enhance the attraction of companies.”