Wednesday, January 14, 2015

GAS ISSUE SEES CYPRUS PEACE TALKS UNLIKELY IN NEAR FUTURE | Natural Gas Europe


Cyprus' Nicos Anastasiades receives the Special Adviser of the UN Secretary-General on Cyprus Espen Barth Eide (Credit: http://www.moi.gov.cy/)
Cyprus' Nicos Anastasiades receives the Special Adviser of the UN Secretary-General Espen Barth Eide





January 14th, 2015


The UN Secretary General’s Special Adviser Espen Barth Eide said that direct Cyprus peace talks are unlikely in the near future.  
“We are not giving up…but right now there are no prospects for an immediate meeting (of the two leaders) and I think that will be true for quite awhile,” Eide said on Wednesday. 
Cyprus’ President Nicos Anastasiades reiterated that natural resources will be managed by the central Government. 
“The things that I have suggested are self-evident, such as, for example, the natural gas, which belongs only to the state, and whose management belongs to the legitimate Government at any given time according to the Constitution in force… These are very clear positions that do not allow any misinterpretation” Anastasiades commented in a note released on Wednesday
Anastasiades withdrew from talks in October 2014, when Turkey announced its intention to carry out seismic survey in a block already licensed to the Eni/KOGAS consortium.
Also on Wednesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu was in Cyprus too. He met with Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglou. The two held a joint press conference, speaking out against a unilateral oil and gas search.  
A Turkish Cypriot declaration of independence is recognised only by Ankara, which has 35,000 troops in the north. 
Meanwhile, Cavusoglu reportedly said that TANAP, the16-bcm project from Azerbaijan to the Greel-Turkish border,  remains a priority for Turkey.




SOURCE

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

J&P Avax lands LNG installation deal in Malta | ΚΑΘΗΜΕΡΙΝΗ


J&P Avax lands LNG installation deal in Malta

 
Athens-listed construction firm J&P Avax has landed a 125-million-euro project in Malta. The project comprises the study, construction and operation of an installation for the import of liquefied natural gas (LNG), its storage and gasification on the Mediterranean island.

The duration of the contract is 18 months, while the conceding authority is Electrogas Malta Ltd, a consortium of GEM Holdings Limited, Socar Trading SA, Siemens Project Ventures GmbH, and Gasol LNG Import Limited.

As J&P Avax announced on Tuesday, the installation will feed natural gas to Malta’s biggest energy production unit at Delimara. The project also includes the procurement of specialized equipment for the liquefying, storage and gasification of natural gas, the construction of control and operation stations and the port infrastructure necessary for the constant supply of liquefied natural gas from ships.

The company’s management has forecast that in 2015 its turnover and profits will have returned to the levels they had been at before the start of the financial crisis, and will stabilize in the coming years with help from the group’s portfolio of concessions.

ekathimerini.com , Tuesday Jan 13, 2015 (22:50)


Source: http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite2_1_13/01/2015_546191

Antitrust regulator wants to restructure gas sector | Globes

Antitrust regulator wants to restructure gas sector

David Gilo


David Gilo sounded determined to break up the natural gas monoply at the Israel Antitrust Authority annual conference.

Israel Antitrust Authority head Prof. David Gilo is showing no signs of reversing his decision to liquidate the natural gas monopoly of Delek Group Ltd. (TASE: DLEKG) and Noble Energy. While negotiating with representatives of the two companies, Gilo said today at the Antitrust Authority annual conference that he was acting to restructure the natural gas market.

"In the natural gas sector, subject to the hearing, we're aiming to change the market structure in order to generate genuine competition between the reservoirs in the natural gas market," Gilo stated. "The anchor for this is our allegation of an agreement in restraint of trade that caused the monopoly, about which there will be a hearing with the parties. We aren't intervening against the monopoly just because it's a monopoly. We’re intervening against the monopoly because of the allegation that the monopoly was obtained through an alleged agreement in restraint of trade made by the parties."

Gilo argued that he was making great efforts to avoid going to court on the issue. "Under the Antitrust Law, it's possible to reach a draft consent decree in order to try to solve the competition problem arising from an alleged violation of the law. The Antitrust Authority has done its best to reach an out-of-court settlement in order to find a way that will both generate competition in the market and avoid the gas partnership's threat not to develop the Leviathan reservoir in the event of legal proceedings.

"The legislator instructs us as follows: first check with those who allegedly violated the law whether they agree to the plan you are considering adopting. If they agree to the plan, submit it for public comments. After obtaining comments from the public, study them and consider carefully according to all the current data available at the time whether to submit the plan for court approval.

"We should submit the plan for court approval only if we're convinced that the draft arrangement achieves the purposes set by the law: preventing harm to competition for the public's sake. It must be emphasized that this is an exceptional case of unprecedented importance to competition in the economy, and that we received an unusual number of public comments. At the moment of truth, after studying the public's comments and all the up-to-date data we had accumulated, we reached the conclusion that the responsibility given us by the law didn't allow us to sign the agreed draft agreement, and didn't allow us to convince the court to authorize this solution."

Gilo said that together with the negotiations he was conducting with Delek Group and Noble Energy, he was determined to liquidate the monopoly in the gas market. "We'll hold the hearing with the gas partnership on this question, and we're in constant touch with them. I think that the question that we all have to ask ourselves is how we want such an important market to look in the long term - whether we want a competitive market structure or a permanent monopoly."

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 13, 2015
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2015


Source: http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-antitrust-regulator-wants-to-restructure-gas-sector-1001000454