Diana Kaissy
Executive Director, The Lebanese Oil and Gas Initiative-LOGI
Beirut, Lebanon
COVID19 had its toll on many NGOs including LOGI. With LOGI’s focus being primarily on acting as interlocutor amongst the different stakeholders working in Lebanon’s oil and gas sector, constant interaction with these stakeholders is a must. With COVID 19 restricting interactions and limiting it only to virtual ones, my colleagues and me faced initial challenges in restructuring our activities around this new COVID19 imposed reality.
The pandemic’s impact was not only felt at this level. Coupled with a continued economic and financial meltdown in Lebanon that was blown, literally, out of proportion by the now infamous Beirut Port explosion on August the 4th, COVID19’s inevitable effect extended to the nascent oil and gas sector. With investors postponing any exploration related work in Lebanon’s offshore, LOGI finds itself pushed to revise its yearly strategic priorities that originally addressed governance issues related to the exploratory phases of the oil and gas sector.
However, and amidst all the chaos of this year, I was able to plan a mountain getaway and mix some oil and gas governance with pottery painting.
Judging on the outcome of my pottery, I think I will hold back on shifting from careers.