Saturday, January 24, 2015

TOTAL RECONSIDERING PRESENCE IN CYPRUS | Natural Gas Europe

TOTAL RECONSIDERING PRESENCE IN CYPRUS

The Eastern Mediterranean is facing all sorts of difficulties. In Israel, the Antitrust Regulator is threatening to break Noble and Delek’s partnership in the Tamar and Leviathan fields for allegedly constituting a cartel; Lebanon has not yet launched its first licensing round, delayed by political rivalries and deadlocks that have prevented the government from issuing two essential decrees; and Cyprus has put its onshore LNG project on hold until further gas is discovered off the island’s coast.
Since its discovery of the Aphrodite field estimated at 3.6 to 6 Tcf and located in Block 12 of its Exclusive Economic Zone, Cyprus has not made another gas encounter in its waters. Searching for gas in Block 9 of the island’s EEZ, ENI's first attempt in 2014 was unsuccessful. The Italian company is now undergoing further exploratory activities in another structure within block 9. ENI is scheduled to drill four wells by next year and its current drilling programme is ongoing.
TOTAL, licensed to drill in Blocks 10 and 11 of Cyprus’ maritime waters, may pull out of Cyprus. Surveys on Blocks 10 and 11 conducted by the French company did not reveal any potential targets for drilling. The minister of energy of Cyprus confirmed that TOTAL may be reconsidering its involvement in exploratory searches off the island. The company is said to be in talks with the government over the possibility of additional working areas off the island’s coast.
TOTAL's pull out may significantly challenge the island's energy plans and its hopes of financial recovery directly linked to successful exploratory results. Cyprus has put on hold an onshore LNG project at Vassilikos until further finds have been made. It was hoped that TOTAL would commence exploratory drilling in 2015 and that additional gas encounters would justify the commercial viability of the onshore LNG terminal.
Failing oil prices and the impact on gas pricing may constitute an additional deterrent for companies such as Noble and TOTAL to undertake projects in the Eastern Mediterranean. The Levant basin is believed to hold substantial amounts of hydrocarbon, but only drilling will prove such quantities exist.
Karen Ayat is an analyst and Associate Partner at Natural Gas Europe focused on energy geopolitics. She reads International Relations and Contemporary War at King's College London focusing on Natural Resources and Conflict. She holds an LLM in Commercial Law from City University London and a Bachelor of Laws from Université Saint Joseph in Beirut. Email Karen karen@minoils.com Follow her on Twitter: @karenayat
Source: http://www.naturalgaseurope.com/total-cyprus-east-med-gas-difficulties?

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

UPDATE 2-Total likely to ditch current Cyprus offshore gas search - minister | Reuters

UPDATE 2-Total likely to ditch current Cyprus offshore gas search - minister

Wed Jan 21, 2015 12:01pm EST

RELATED TOPICS

* Total failed to find evidence supporting drill-minister
* New exploration failure clouds Cyprus oil & gas prospects
* French group says in talks over further exploration (Adds Total comments)
NICOSIA, Jan 21 (Reuters) - French energy company Total is likely to abandon its current search for oil and gas off Cyprus after failing to find tangible evidence of reserves, dealing a blow to the island's hopes of a natural resource bonanza after a painful bailout in 2013.
Cypriot energy minister Yiorgos Lakkotrypis said on Wednesday that Total, granted a concession two years ago, had failed to pinpoint reserves that would justify costly drilling.
"The company informed us some months ago that it was having difficulty finding any structures, targets, in the blocks it had a licence for ... and they informed us last September they had not found any target to drill," Lakkotrypis told state radio.
Total is among a raft of international oil exploration and production companies, including BP and ConocoPhillips , that have slashed 2015 budgets in light of lower oil prices.
Drilling in the east Mediterranean is costly, because of its considerable depth. Asked if authorities had been told drilling will not commence, Lakkotrypis said: "Essentially yes."
A Total spokeswoman confirmed the group had completed its surveys on Blocks 10 & 11 without finding any potential drilling targets, adding however that Total was "currently discussing with local authorities a potential programme of additional exploration works in the area."
Cyprus needed a 10 billion euro ($11.6 billion) bailout in early 2013, and had partly pinned hopes on natural gas to aid recovery.
Total's decision was unlikely to have a significant effect on Cyprus's short-term outlook, but would be a dampener in the medium and longer term, said Sofronis Clerides, associate professor at the Department of Economics at the University of Cyprus.
"An important upside risk just became less likely. Expectations that natural resource revenues and related economic activity will fuel a faster economic recovery will have to be adjusted.
"The only silver lining is that Cyprus may now be able to have a discussion about its natural resource prospects that is grounded in reality rather than in wishful thinking," he told Reuters.
Italy's ENI failed to find gas in a drill last year and is now searching elsewhere off Cyprus. U.S. energy company Noble found gas reserves in 2011.
Cyprus's neighbour Turkey has challenged Nicosia's right to drill for gas, maintaining the island's estranged Turkish Cypriots have an equal claim. The island was split in a Turkish invasion in 1974 following a brief Greece-inspired coup.
Lakkotrypis said any decision by Total was unrelated to the political controversy.

($1 = 0.8632 euros) (Additional reporting by Michel Rose in Paris; Editing by Jason Neely and Mark Potter)



Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/21/cyprus-gas-total-idUSL6N0V01YW20150121

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Egypt: Eni signs concession agreements for two new exploration blocks in the Egyptian Mediterranean | Energy-Pedia News

Egypt: Eni signs concession agreements for two new exploration blocks in the Egyptian Mediterranean


14 Jan 2015

Photo - see caption
As a result of the EGAS 2013 bid roundEni signed two concession agreements for the North Leil and Karawan blocksoffshore Egypt. 
Eni is the operator and holds 100% equity in North Leil and 50% equity in Karawan, where it partners with BP. The two blocks, which will be operated by Eni’s subsidiary IEOC, are located in the deepwater offshore of the Mediterranean, west of the Shorouk block, which Eni acquired last year. North Leil and Karawan blocks cover areas of 5,105 and 4,565 sq kms respectively.  
The signature of these two new concession agreements follows that of Southwest Meleiha Block recently awarded, further strengthening Eni’s position in Egypt, a country of historic and strategic importance for the Company, and relaunching Eni’s exploration activities in the Egyptian’s offshore.
Eni has been present in Egypt since 1954 and is the main producer in the country with an equity of approx. 210,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
Photo - see caption
EGAS 2013 Bid Round Blocks (Source: EGAS)
Click here for information regarding Egypt's 2013 Bid Round
Source: Eni

Source: http://www.energy-pedia.com/news/egypt/new-162141