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MEOG PoLiCy MEOG
Davutoglu jabs at Erdogan after applying to register Future Party
turKey
EX-PRIME minister of Turkey ahmet Davuto- glu spoke out against former ally and incumbent president Recep Tayyip Erdogan on December 13, a day after applying to register his proposed new political party named Future Party.
Turkey was suffering from the over-concen- tration of power in the executive presidency, an economy in “deep crisis” and an atmosphere of fear, he said.
“Those ruling Turkey have no agenda other than staying in power,” Davutoglu, 60, remarked in a barb clearly aimed at Erdogan. Turkey’s judiciary was now “feared rather than trusted”, he added.
attempts to control the judiciary must be seen as “the greatest of crimes”, he also said.
Davutoglu resigned from Erdogan’s Isla- mist-rooted Justice and Development Party (aKP) in September.
It and Erdogan have dominated Turkish pol- itics for 17 years. But Davutoglu said it was no
longer able to solve the country’s problems and was keeping a lid on internal debate.
Davutoglu served as prime minister from 2014 to 2016.
He said it was essential to fight corruption and guarantee the separation of powers, adding that Davutoglu resigned two months after former
deputy prime minister ali Babacan, once seen as Turkey’s economic czar, also left the aKP, cit- ing deep differences. Babacan is to announce his own rival political party within weeks, a source close to him told Reuters.
Polls show support for the new parties and their leaders in single percentage point figures, meaning they could pose little challenge to Erdo- gan and the aKP on their own.
However, after defeat in mayoral elections in ankara and Istanbul this year, and with eco- nomic difficulties eroding his voter base, any loss of support could hit efforts to extend Erdogan’s rule. Elections are not scheduled until 2023.™
ProJeCts & ComPanies
Lebanese exploration set for January kick-off
Lebanon
LEBaNESE Water and Energy Minister Nada Boustani last week announced that a consortium led by France’s Total had been awarded a drilling permit ahead of spudding the first well in the country’s offshore in January.
Speaking to press gathered in Beirut, she said: “The launch of this licence and handing it over to the consortium of Total, Eni and Novatek is the first step in the discovery of potential oil and gas reserves in Lebanon.”
“The drilling process will take two months, while we will need additional two months to verify if the discovered material is commercial or not,” she said.
Vantage Drilling’s Tungsten Explorer rig has been assigned the job, and it is moving into position following the drilling of Egypt’s Nour prospect for Eni.
Drilling will take place in Block 4, in which Total holds a 40% operated stake along with Eni (40%) and Russia’s Novatek (20%).
The concession was awarded to the consor- tium, along with Block 9, in February 2018.
The latter block lies in a maritime zone
contested by neighbouring Israel and the poten- tial for exploratory drilling there has been the cause of increased friction between Beirut and Jerusalem.
around 7-9% of Block 9 overlaps with an 890-square km triangle of territory disputed with Israel, and amid uproar from Lebanon’s southern neighbour, Total previously said that it would seek to drill as far from the offending area as possible.
Drilling there is anticipated to begin in Q2 2020 and Middle East Oil & Gas (MEOG) under- stands from Lebanese sources that a well will be spudded 20-30km from the area of controversy.
January 2020 is also the deadline for bids in Lebanon’s five-block second licensing round, which Boustani launched in april.
In December 2018, the Lebanese Petroleum administration (LPa) announced that a recom- mendation of four blocks had been submitted to the cabinet for inclusion in the second round.
Blocks 1, 8 and 10 were those unawarded in the first round, while Block 5 was to be newly included and Block 2 was also belatedly added
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 50 18•December•2019