BEIRUT, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Lebanon postponed on Sunday the deadline for submitting offers for the country's second licensing round for offshore oil and gas exploration in five blocks amid the COVID-19 outbreak, the National News Agency reported.

The new date will be specified later this year, said the report.

"The outbreak of COVID-19 all over the world has devastating effects on the petroleum sector, leading to low demand for oil and gas and a sharp decline in the prices of these two commodities," said a statement by the Energy Ministry.

The statement explained that the coronavirus hit the financial and logistical capabilities of oil-mining companies, prompting these companies to reduce their investments in such projects.

Lebanon launched in April 2019 the second licensing round for offshore oil and gas exploration in five blocks.

In February 2018, Lebanon signed its first offshore oil and gas exploration and production contracts for two energy blocks with a consortium of France's Total, Italy's Eni and Russia's Novatek. Enditem

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