JOB DESCRIPTION

1. About LOGI

LOGI is an independent non-governmental organization based in Beirut that promotes the transparent and sound management of Lebanon’s oil and gas resources. It aims to develop a network of Lebanese experts in the global energy industry and provide them with a platform to educate Lebanese policy makers as well as Lebanese citizens on the key decisions facing the oil and gas industry. It focuses on public awareness, policy development, advocacy and capacity building to help Lebanon maximize the economic and social benefits of its oil and gas wealth – and avoid the resource curse. LOGI is the first and only Lebanese NGO member of Publish What You Pay (PWYP).

 2. Introduction about the Gas and Oil sector in Lebanon 

Petroleum exploration has a long history in Lebanon; however, the topic was kept aside until Noble Energy, a leading U.S. energy company, started searching the reserves in the Eastern Mediterranean Basin where it succeeded in December 2009 in discovering new oil and gas reserves. The Levant Basin is an 83,000 km2 region which engulfs Syrian, Lebanese, and Cypriot, as well as Israeli/occupied Palestine waters. It has been declared by Noble Energy that the Levant Basin’s hydrocarbon reserves are the largest resources screened by them up to this date.

The above new facts gave the Lebanese authorities the motivation to start implementing serious measures since the year 2010 to tap any potential oil and gas reserves. On February 15, 2013 the Lebanese Minister of Energy and Water (MoEW) held a press conference launching the pre-qualification process for oil companies to bid on offshore oil and gas exploration. In January 2017, and after a three-year delay, Lebanon re-launched its first oil and gas licensing round. Lebanon has opened five offshore blocks (1, 4, 8, 9 and 10) for bidding in a first licensing round of offshore oil and gas exploration in Lebanon’s Exclusive Economic Zone. In February 2017, Lebanon has also decided to join the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) to guarantee the transparency of the process. On January 25, 2018 the cabinet of ministers signed the first two exploration and production agreements for oil and gas in Lebanon’s offshore with a consortium of oil companies (Total, Eni, and Novatek).

On May 29th, 2018 the minister of energy and water, Cezar Abi Khalil approved the exploration plans submitted by the consortium therefore, launching officially the exploration phase that will last for 3 years.

The petroleum sector in Lebanon is at an early stage, and the existence and size of recoverable reserves remain unclear. Nevertheless, the seismic surveys indicate that the reserves may be commercially viable.

Great expectations have come with the prospect of becoming a petroleum producing country, with ideas of wiping Lebanon’s monumental public debt clean, embarking on grand infrastructure projects and ushering in a new era of stability and prosperity. Unfortunately, Lebanon’s lack of experience in the area of energy reserves presents several challenges for effective and equitable management of its resources. It is worth noting that far from the politics and the debates, qualified people are working on this topic. If these actors were given the space and freedom to work and got the needed support the economy will start to witness prosperity.

 3. Problem addressed

Out of 180 countries, Lebanon was ranked 143 out of 180 least corrupt nation, according to the 2017 Corruption Perceptions Index reported by Transparency International. Corruption affects all sectors of society and different governmental body and has a huge negative effect on the investment, economic growth and on judiciary system. 

Corruption in Lebanon exists in all its forms including bribery, nepotism, favoritism, patronage, embezzlement, kick-backs, and vote-buying.

There is no doubt that there are various causes for corruption in Lebanon some of which are:

• The lack of awareness on corruption, its causes and consequences;
• The absence of dysfunctional key anti-corruption institutions;
• The weak legal framework and the lack of proper legal implementation mechanisms

This persisting problem has had tremendous political, financial and economic costs on the Lebanese economy and rendered the delicate the relationship between citizens and the state which resulted in a lack of trust and continuous accusations of corruptive acts regardless if the activity is based on corruption or not.

Lebanon is currently embarking in the emerging sector where this industry has special features, including the potential for substantial economic rents, high-levels of government involvement, technically and structurally complicated operations, as well as complex and lengthy fiscal, legal, and commercial agreements which makes it more important to have high transparency standards in order not to manipulate revenue flows for political or personal gain, in turn fuelling the resource curse.

The Lebanese government have recently undertaken huge steps and attempts towards promoting transparency in the oil and gas industry, such as declaring its intention to implement the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative-EITI, disclosing its first oil and gas signed contracts, as well as passing right to access to information law and drafting oil and gas transparency law.

However, and based on the more recent research done by leading international organizations that work on transparency and accountability in the oil and gas sector, there is a great risk for new oil producing countries to face what analysts are now labelling as the ‘pre-source curse”. According to David Mihayli from NRGI[1]:

“… it turns out that in many cases, economic growth begins to underperform long before the first drop of oil is produced; this we call the “Presource curse.”

In a country with weak institutions such as Lebanon, elevated expectations around the oil and gas sector can lead to suboptimal behaviour such as embarking on risky borrowing or setting up frameworks that cannot be sustained by the current economy.

4. Project and Services to be Provided 

The Lebanese Oil and Gas Initiative (LOGI) is commissioning the development of a policy brief within the framework of its project on “Partnership for Oil for the Common Good in Lebanon”. The project is supported by Norwegian People Aid (NPA) Lebanon and funded by the Norwegian Development Agency (Norad). The goal of this policy brief is to focus on the concept of the pre-source curse and its applicability to the Lebanese context. In particular, the policy brief needs to deep dive into the implications of establishing a sovereign wealth fund and a national oil company while taking into consideration the probability of encountering the pre-source curse .

Accordingly, requested services would be:

• Conduct a review on the concept of the presource curse and its applicability to the Lebanese conext.
• Conduct a review on the current draft laws (NOC and SWF) from the point of their influence on the  development of a Presource curse.
• Develop a policy brief based on the above findings.
• Include recommendations based on the findings

A. Approach

• The consultant must further optimise the overall consultancy proposal highlighted in the ToR. The researcher should propose the approach that s/he will use to deliver the consultancy service. The consultant is to include as many details as possible in her/his proposal.
• The consultant will also develop a work plan with clear milestone deliverables and timelines in consistency with the set timeframe of this assignment.
• The workplan should include peer revision
• The proposed approach and work plan should be included in the consultancy proposal to be submitted to LOGI.

B. Deliverables

• Policy brief on the above-mentioned subject between 6-8 pages.

 LOGI in partnership with NPA shall decide which sections of the report to be considered as public and which are only accessible by LOGI and NPA.

5. Contract Period  

Periodical meetings will take place between LOGI focal point and the consultant during the period of the project. Adjustment of dates might be negotiated between LOGI and the consultants.

Budget  

Max US 3,000. Please note that this amount must cover any taxes that may apply. Please also note that price is a selection criteria.

The tender will be evaluated and selected based on the following criteria:

Experience required: 

• 3 to 5 years

Education degree: Other Field of education: •Proven experience in training, research, consultancy and the mentioned topics. As part of the proposal, we require a brief summary of the consultant/team of consultants that will conduct this service. This summary will highlight any relevant experience or expertise in these fields including publication list, CV, division of tasks among the team members and the percentage of work contribution for each member (if applicable) •PHD or master degree in a relevant field of study (law, Petroleum Studies, etc.) with proven track of reports/consultancies and/or publishing. •Knowledge on good governance techniques and the civil society organizations in Lebanon and preferably from other petroleum producing countries. •Knowledge on politics of Lebanon and other resource rich countries in the region. •Knowledge on sustainable resource management of the petroleum sector. •Knowledge about laws •Proven experience in organizing and conducting training workshops •Excellent written and spoken Arabic language skills.

LANGUAGES

Arabic: Excellent English: Excellent French:

Period: June4-July 5, 2018

Submission guidelines: This tender is published publicly and open to all interested candidates, including research institutions and independent researchers. A proposal, a corresponding budget, and the data requested should be sent to the following emails:

[email protected]

[email protected]

Please Include cover letter.