BEIRUT, April 2 (Xinhua) -- An Italian trade official said on Tuesday that his country is keen to cooperate with Lebanon in the oil and gas sector, the National News Agency (NNA) reported.

"Italian companies are placing big hopes on Lebanon as a gate for exporting oil and gas to other countries," said Francesca Zadro, trade commissioner of the Italian Trade Agency in Beirut, during the fifth Lebanon International Oil and Gas Summit.

It is the second time that Italian companies take part in the summit, which reflects Italy's great interest in the Lebanese market, Zadro added.

"Lebanon is investing a lot in oil and gas exploration and in oil services as well and Italy can play a great role with Lebanon in this area," she noted.

Meanwhile, Walid Nasr, chairman of the Lebanese petroleum administration, said Lebanon "will start the first well drilling in block 4 and then block 9 by the end of 2019."

The second offshore oil and gas licensing round will be launched on Thursday, he added.

In February 2018, Lebanon signed its first offshore oil and gas exploration and production contracts for energy blocks 4 and 9 with a consortium of France's Total, Italy's Eni and Russia's Novatek.