Lebanon has delayed for the second time the first auction of oil and natural gas licenses in its Mediterranean coastal waters after the government failed to vote on decrees needed to start the bidding process, Energy Minister Gebran Bassil said Wednesday.

On his Twitter page, Mr. Bassil blamed "some Lebanese officials" for the delay in the first bidding round, but didn't give a new date for the process to start.

Last month, he said the first bidding round had been postponed to Dec. 10 from Nov. 4 and could face another delay if the cabinet failed to approve the necessary decrees by Oct. 2.

Lebanon has already short-listed 46 international oil firms to bid in the licensing round.

ExxonMobil Corp. (XOM) and Chevron Corp. (CVX) of the U.S. , France 's Total SA (TOT), Norway 's Statoil ASA (STO), Anglo-Dutch multinational Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA) and Italy 's Eni SpA (E) are among 12 firms that pre-qualified as operators, according to Lebanon 's Petroleum Administration.

The administration also short-listed 34 firms as non-operators, including Korea National Oil Corp., Russia 's OAO Rosneft (ROSN.RS) and Japan 's Inpex Corp. (1605.TO).

Mr. Bassil had previously said that Lebanon would be able to sign energy contracts by March 31 next year if the government voted on the necessary decrees by Oct. 2.

Lebanon, which passed an oil law in 2010 and formed a petroleum board last year, is opening prospects for exploration in the hope that sizeable discoveries will help it cut high levels of government debt and meet domestic power demands. Geophysical data covering the exploration area in the eastern Mediterranean indicate the region contains several trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

The tiny Mediterranean country faces economic and fiscal challenges that are contributing to its mounting public debt. Insecurity relating to threats from across its borders with Syria and Israel , as well as internal political instability that could jeopardize foreign investments and tourism have contributed to the country's hardship.

By the end of July last year, Lebanon 's gross public debt stood at $55.4 billion, or 136.4% of gross domestic product, according to the Association of Banks in Lebanon .
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