The Lebanese petroleum expert Nicolas Sarkis recently uploaded a video on his Youtube channel exposing the outrageous corruption nested in the petroleum domain in Lebanon. He says that he had never seen, in any other country in his 40 or so years of work in petroleum, the amount of corruption that he saw first-hand in Lebanon.

Sarkis has worked as a petroleum consultant in numerous Arab and non-Arab petroleum-producing countries around the world during his decades-long career. Now, in light of the uprising in Lebanon and the serious focus on exposing and fighting corruption in the country, he has important insight to share with the public.

Here is what every Lebanese citizen should know about what goes on behind the scenes of Lebanon’s petroleum plans, as explained by Mr. Sarkis:

ViaWikidata

The Lebanese Petroleum Administration

To understand what goes on behind the scenes, you must first understand the forefront of the scene itself. The Lebanese Petroleum Administration is responsible for everything petroleum in Lebanon.

It was established on the 4th of December 2012 and is an independent public institution mandated to manage the upstream offshore petroleum sector in Lebanon.

Operating under the tutelage of the Minister of Energy and Water, the principal objective of the LPA is to contribute to creating the greatest possible value for the economy and the society out of the petroleum sector while protecting the environment.

Via LPA

It actively undertakes planning, regulatory, and supervisory roles across the petroleum industry, and plays critical roles during the initial licensing phase, as well as the many phases that follow.

Recently, caretaker Prime Minister