Press room
14 May, 2013
Le coût du « piston » dans la recherche d’un emploi évalué par le LCPS
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11 May, 2013
Finding a Job in Lebanon: The Hidden Cost of “Connections”
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10 May, 2013
La Syrie peut complètement anéantir l’économie de la région
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Gas Contracts must be Transparent and Properly Enforced
This article was published in NOW. under the original title: 'How Much Gas Revenue will be Stolen'.
Lebanon is set to finish accepting pre-qualification applications from companies that want to bid on licenses to explore for offshore natural gas and oil on Thursday, effectively launching an oil and gas sector in the country. Given that Lebanon is perceived to be rampantly corrupt, it remains to be seen just how transparent this new sector will be.
A press aide to caretaker Energy Minister Gebran Bassil said no one could answer four questions from NOW before Thursday, and Bassil has banned the newly appointed Petroleum Administration – responsible for overseeing the sector – from speaking to the press. Further, a strategic environmental assessment looking at how the sector might impact Lebanon and its waters conducted last year by a British company is currently not a public document, the Minister of Environment told NOW.
That said, Bassil has repeatedly told other media outlets that the entire sector will indeed be transparent.
Sami Atallah, head of the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies, is spearheading a two-year project to study and push for transparency and best practices in the oil and gas sector in order avoid the so-called “Oil…
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Research projects
2013
Developing National Capability for Security and Stabilization
A project aimed at promoting people-centered Security Sector Reform by filling the gap in the public discourse on National Security. Through research, consultation, awareness raising...
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2013
Governing the Gas Sector: Averting the Resource Curse in Lebanon
A project aimed at providing a roadmap for institutional and policy reform in order to inform and influence policy debate on gas. The project identifies...
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2013
Decentralization, Democratization, and the Role of Regional Administrations for Better Service Delivery in the Arab World
A project aimed at introducing decentralization in three Arab countries including Lebanon. The overall purpose of the study is threefold:
Provide a critical review/assessment of...
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Newsfeed
December 2012 / Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies
The Geopolitical Impacts of the Discovery of Natural Gas in the Eastern Mediterranean Basin
In April of 2010, the US Geological Survey (USGS) estimated prospective resources in the Mediterranean's Levant Basin at between 1.7 billion and 3.7 billion barrels...
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December 2012 / The Oxford Institute for Energy Studies
East Mediterranean Gas: What Kind of a Game-Changer?
The discovery of sizable gas resources in the Levant Basin, a geological structure that straddles the territorial waters of Cyprus, Israel, the Palestinian Territories, Lebanon,...
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November 2012 / Brookings
Water Challenges and Cooperative Response in the Middle East and North Africa
Today, the countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region still depend on effective water resource management for their continuing welfare and future prosperity....
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of graduates looking for a job are willing to emigrate for job purposes
of Lebanese youth perceive the use of political connections as a legitimate way to find a job
of individuals from high income families think that they have effective political connections
of individuals from high income families are prepared to use political connections to find a job
of students from private universities are willing to use political connections to find a job
Featured Analysis
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Finding a Job in Lebanon: The Hidden Cost of Using Personal Connections
The World Bank office in Beirut recently launched a report concluding that Lebanon needs more and better jobs. The report quantified the problem we currently face. It is worth synthesizing some of the key findings:
One, the Lebanese economy has a dismal record in creating jobs. Although GDP grew by 3.7% per year between 1997 and 2009, the economy created only 1.1% jobs, an anomaly for a middle income country. The economy must create six times more jobs to absorb the new graduates if they were to remain in the country. This effectively means that in the next 10... More › |
Sami Atallah
LCPS Executive Director |
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Lebanon Imperiled as Prime Minister Resigns Under Duress
The resignation of Lebanon’s prime minister, Najib Mikati, was the result of intensifying pressure between the pro-Assad and anti-Assad camps in Lebanon and the region. At a minimum, it ushers in a period of further drift and weakening of the country’s political and security institutions. At worst, it might herald a serious entry of the Syrian conflict into Lebanon, a showdown between the country’s factions, and challenges to its basic constitutional order.
Lebanon’s leaders and foreign friends should recognize the depth of the peril and work to find a way forward to form a new government, appoint a new,... More › |
Paul Salem
Director of the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut and board member of LCPS |
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Key Decisions Await the Government to Reap the Benefits of Gas
The East Mediterranean has in the recent past experienced what could be described as the beginnings of a small gas revolution. Having historically seen limited exploration activity, resulting in modest proven hydrocarbon resources, the region is now considered a ‘new frontier’ for offshore gas exploration in the Middle East and North Africa. The discovery of large gas deposits in the East Mediterranean since 2009 has spurred a flurry of exploration activity, leading the Financial Times to comment that the discoveries are ‘potentially so vast that the economic map of the region is already being redrawn.’
In a recent paper... More › |
Bassam Fattouh
economist and research fellow at LCPSeconomist and research fellow at LCPS
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Offshore Gas Pre-Qualification Process: So Far so Good
On 15 February 2013, the Lebanese government initiated the country’s first ever offshore licensing round. Companies interested in bidding for oil and gas exploration and production licenses off the Lebanese coast have until the end of March to submit their pre-qualification package. Short-listed companies will be notified by mid-April; bidding will start in May and is expected to continue for six months. Various bid evaluations will take place between November 2013 and January 2014, and the first exploration and production agreement is scheduled to be signed in February 2014.
Lebanon has opted for what amounts to a relatively transparent... More › |
Carole Nakhle
energy economist and research fellow at LCPSenergy economist and research fellow at LCPS
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The Orthodox Gathering Law: Taking the Country on a Ride to Serve Narrow Interests
Voting every four years for an electoral law few months before the election ensures that most MPs maintain their seats in Parliament. They do so by selecting the constituents who will vote for them largely by carving out electoral districts to their advantage. This is called gerrymandering where politicians choose their voters rather than voters choose their representatives.
With the Greek Orthodox law, gerrymandering has taken a whole new meaning in Lebanon. If approved, politicians would be elected by members of their own sect. That is a Maronite MP will be elected by Maronite voters, Sunni MPs will be... More › |
Sami Atallah
LCPS Executive DirectorLCPS Executive Director
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The Orthodox Gathering Law: Taking the Country on a Ride to Serve Narrow Interests
Voting every four years for an electoral law few months before the election ensures that most MPs maintain their seats in Parliament. They do so by selecting the constituents who will vote for them largely by carving out electoral districts to their advantage. This is called gerrymandering where politicians choose their voters rather than voters choose their representatives.
With the Greek Orthodox law, gerrymandering has taken a whole new meaning in Lebanon. If approved, politicians would be elected by members of their own sect. That is a Maronite MP will be elected by Maronite voters, Sunni MPs will be... More › |
Sami Atallah
LCPS Executive DirectorLCPS Executive Director
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Activities
January 2013
LCPS endorses the implementation of the National Commission Electoral Law
In the midst of the debate on electoral reform, the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies calls for the adoption of the National Commission Electoral law (better known as the Fouad...
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January 2013
Why Nations Fail? James Robinson Book Tour
LCPS and the Economic Research Forum (ERF) organized three public lectures by Harvard Professor James Robinson on his recent book ‘Why Nations Fail? The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty’.
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December 2012
Legislative Elections and Clientelism in Lebanon
As part of a larger study, LCPS is conducting a series of focus groups on “Legislative elections and clientelism in Lebanon”. In light of the upcoming Lebanese national elections in...
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