Friday, March 27, 2015

No gas drilling for two years | in-cyprus.com

No gas drilling for two years

The gas bonanza seems to be over before it even started. With either dry wells or nothing worth drilling for, Noble’s Aphrodite in Block 12 is the only exploitable field for the foreseeable future.
Energy Minister George Lakkotrypis announced yesterday that after drilling to a depth of 5,485 metres, the Eni-Kogas consortium had “not identified exploitable hydrocarbons” in the Block 9 field.
The Italian-Korean consortium has asked for two more years to examine the data – understood to mean it will not be conducting any more drilling for two years.
This is the second dry well for Eni-Kogas. The Onasagoras well was announced dry in December. Globally the rate of success for drilling is only 20%.
Total not drilling
Financial challenges at France’s Total mean that it has no intention of drilling either, the Cyprus Weekly has learned.
On March 18, the government trumpeted an updated gas agreement with the company, following an announcement in January that after conducting research, Total “was having difficulty finding any structures” and “had not found any target to drill”.
Lakkotrypis was somewhat vague last week on the details, saying that they were “extending the exploration programme in different areas” but adding, “I’m not going to say which”.
The Cyprus Weekly has learned via two independent sources that the reason for the minister’s lack of detail is that Total has no intention of drilling in Blocks 10 and 11 while oil prices remain so low.
“The likelihood of them spending billions in a remote corner of the Easter Mediterranean is close to the square root of zero,” said one industry source.
Financial trouble
A key reason why Total will not be drilling is that it is going through a severe cost-cutting exercise.
Total is reported to have paid $2bn to secure 10% in a new 40-year concession in Abu Dhabi. However, other oil majors walked away from the deal, finding it too expensive in the current price environment. In response to falling oil prices, Total has slashed its exploration budget by 30%.
More time for Cyprob?
With no drilling expected any time soon, the ‘window of opportunity’ diplomatically referred to last week by the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Cyprus, Espen Barth Eide, has suddenly grown from Eni’s three-month “technical pause” to two years.
While all involved have been careful to avoid any official link between separate developments, talks to resolve the decades-old Cyprus problem are expected to resume after the pause in drilling the expiry of the Navtex (notice to mariners) issued by Turkey for Cypriot waters on April 6 and the Turkish Cypriot leadership elections on April 17 and 24.

Source: http://in-cyprus.com/no-gas-drilling-for-two-years/

GERMANY SIGNS DECLARATION OF INTENT WITH ALGERIA FOR ENERGY COOPERATION | Natural Gas Europe

March 27th, 2015

GERMANY SIGNS DECLARATION OF INTENT WITH ALGERIA FOR ENERGY COOPERATION

In line with a consolidated trendGermany further increased its focus on the energy sector and the related geopolitics, signing a declaration of intent with Algeria and meeting with Cyprus’ officials.
Algeria’s Energy Minister Youcef Yousfi and Germany’s Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy Sigmar Gabriel met on Thursday. They clinched a deal to strengthen bilateral relations in the field of energy, also aimed at step up ‘partnership … in the Mediterranean region.’ 
According to Algeria Press Service, the parts will study ways to increase cooperation between national industries.
On Friday, Cyprus’ Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Alexandros Zenon, concluded his visit to Germany, where he met counterparts from the German Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Chancellery. 
Earlier this year, Angela Merkel confirmed her support to the Republic of Cyprus, calling for the respect of the European country’s sovereignty over its territorial waters.

Source: http://www.naturalgaseurope.com/germany-signs-declaration-intent-algeria-energy-cooperation-22940

Noble Energy walks away from Ruth C exploration license | Jerusalem Post

03.27.2015 | 7 Nisan, 5775

Noble Energy walks away from Ruth C exploration license

While the Ruth C license zone – located off the coast of Haifa,has yet to be explored, Noble Energy was authorized to act as the basin's operator during forthcoming.

While the Ruth C license zone – located off the coast of Haifa, east of the larger Tamar basin – has yet to be explored, Noble Energy was authorized to act as the basin’s operator during forthcoming explorations. On Wednesday, however, the company announced “its retirement from the Ruth C license and from the Joint Operating Agreement... in part due to the regulatory uncertainty that exists in Israel and taking into account the risks involved with exploration activities in the license,” according to reports filed on Thursday by license partners the Delek Group.

Noble Energy is a 47.059-percent stakeholder in the 40,000-hectare (98,842-acre) Ruth C license zone, while the Delek Group’s Delek Drilling and Avner Oil Exploration subsidiaries hold 27.835% and 25.106%, respectively.

As a result of Noble Energy’s decision to forgo its role as the operator, Delek Drilling and Avner Oil Exploration have requested that the Petroleum Commissioner extend the Ruth C exploration timetable specified in their work plan, so that an alternative operator for the exploration can be found, the TASE reports added.

The Reut C exploration license was issued from March 1, 2009, through February 28, 2016 – following an extension granted by the Petroleum Commissioner on September 1, 2014. The extension stipulated that prospective drilling targets be filed by August 31, 2015, detailed engineering plans be submitted by September 1, 2015, and the commencement of exploratory well drilling occur by November 1, 2015.

This extension was not taken lightly by activists, however, and on January 20 of this year, the Movement for Quality Government submitted a High Court petition against National Infrastructure, Energy and Water Minister Silvan Shalom, the petroleum commissioner, and the license holders, demanding the revocation of the exploration license extension.

The court rejected the petition on February 19.

Noble Energy’s decision to leave Ruth C occurs amid an atmosphere of ambivalence and indecision regarding both Noble and Delek’s presence in the country’s large Tamar and Leviathan reservoirs.

The 282-billion-cubic-meter Tamar reservoir, located about 80 km. west of Haifa, began flowing to Israel in March 2013. Yet development of the larger 621-b.cu.m. Leviathan basin, about 130 km. west of Haifa, has been temporarily frozen due to squabbles between the government and the companies.

In February, an interministerial team presented Noble Energy and the Delek Group with a draft solution to the stalemate. Its outline proposed that the Delek Group subsidiaries exit the Tamar reservoir completely and that Noble Energy sell its portion of the basin that would have been directed to the domestic market.

In addition, the document called for the companies to separately market any gas sold from Leviathan to Israeli consumers. The partners would also be required to sell their two smaller reservoirs, Karish and Tanin, as had been originally suggested in the proposed consent decree.

But the week later, Gilo announced that he would postpone his decision regarding the status of the companies for another two months, allowing for closed-door negotiations between the government and the companies to continue.

In response to Noble Energy’s announcement regarding Ruth C, the Energy Ministry said on Thursday afternoon that “the ministry is doing everything in its power to find a solution that will enable the continued development of energy in Israel while providing market certainty, a combination of new players and new investors for the development of the natural gas sector and the encouragement of competition.”

Source: http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/New-Tech/Head-Noble-Energy-walks-away-from-Ruth-C-exploration-license-395207

Thursday, March 26, 2015

U.S. Policy and the Strategic Relationship of Greece, Cyprus, and Israel: Power Shifts in the Eastern Mediterranean | Hudson Institute

U.S. Policy and the Strategic Relationship of Greece, Cyprus, and Israel: Power Shifts in the Eastern Mediterranean

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
An important focus of Hudson Institute’s research over the past year and a half has been security in the Eastern Mediterranean and energy security in particular. The reason for this concentration is recent natural gas discoveries off Cyprus and Israel. Subjects of special attention include both Cyprus and Israel’s roles in the Eastern Mediterranean energy corridor; the potential for the Eastern Mediterranean’s energy trade with the E.U.; and the political, energy, and security cooperation between Cyprus, Israel, and Greece against the backdrop of Turkey’s embrace of Islamist and jihadist movements in the Middle East as well as other related developments since large natural gas deposits were discovered. Hudson Institute’s research has included two trips to Greece and Cyprus, and one trip to Israel, for meetings with senior policymakers of the countries.
The recent gas discoveries in the Mediterranean offshore of Cyprus and Israel, and the future deep offshore drilling from leading oil majors, such as TOTALENI, and Noble Energy, reflect the dynamism and future growth of the hydrocarbon industry in the Eastern Mediterranean. Commercial arrangements that reduce the companies’ risk profile are optimal, but with a host of variables, a favorable commercial outcome cannot be realized without political stability.
The strategic relationship that has formed between Greece, Israel, and Cyprus since 2010 is a model for successful regional cooperation. Closer security relations with the three countries will allow the U.S. to better address today’s global challenges including the fight against terrorism, energy security, and the stability of the global commons that is increasingly at risk as security in the Eastern Mediterranean becomes more problematic. U.S. policymakers will benefit from thinking ahead and being able to project and shape change – that’s what leadership is about. Their challenge is to imagine, articulate, and explain what U.S. policy will gain from supporting this new alliance in the Eastern Mediterranean.
The U.S.’s challenge is to be able to project force, assure energy security, and sustain the cohesiveness of the transatlantic alliance as the Western alliance faces new threats to its east and south. Hudson Institute believes that global security, prosperity and freedom require strong, engaged, and strategic American leadership at the heart of a vigorous network of allies. Stability on its southern inland sea flank requires the U.S. to reassume a leading role in the Mediterranean that it largely vacated at the end of the Cold War.
American allies and friends, Greece, Cyprus, and Israel, have established a strategic relationship that is a model for the new regional balance of power. The triangle provides the U.S. a democratic foundation for both the region and as NATO’s southeastern anchor.
View PDF

Source: http://www.hudson.org/research/11161-u-s-policy-and-the-strategic-relationship-of-greece-cyprus-and-israel-power-shifts-in-the-eastern-mediterranean

Gas searching ship finds nothing off Cyprus | in.cyprus.com

Gas searching ship finds nothing off Cyprus

Fears that the SAIPEM 10000 drill ship would come up empty handed have been confirmed with Energy Minister Yiorgos Lakkotrypis said to brief the parliamentary representatives of the political parties on Thursday of the failure to locate hydrocarbons at the “Amathousa” reservoir.
Italian-South Korean consortium ENI/KOGAS are still evaluating all data collected during the exploratory well, to be used in the future, but the findings are so far not good. The evaluation had taken time and money due to the complex geological landscape of the area.
ENI/KOGAS had been awarded exploration licenses in blocks 2,3 and 9 of Cyprus` Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Prior to drilling, ENI completed three seismic surveys, and its overall planning includes 6 wells.
Despite the setback, ENI/KOGAS are refusing to give up and are reportedly ready to seek an exploration extension from the government – something that would run them up further costs of around hundreds of millions of dollars.
They have already paid up €400million.
Although ENI/KOGAS are not expected to issue some kind of announcement, Lakkotrypis is and will go ahead with a briefing in parliament on Thursday.
The exact size of block 9 is 4,000 square kilometres and that include blocks 2 and 3 which some experts predict is rich in quantities of hydrocarbons.
The SAIPEM 10000 drill ship is set to leave Cyprus’ shores and sail off to a Mediterranean port for maintenance.
Earlier this month, Noble Energy said it expected to declare its Aphrodite natural gas reserve off Cyprus commercially viable within weeks, paving the way for exports.
The move would be an important milestone for Cyprus, which required an international bailout in 2013 and is now looking at an economic turnaround based partly on offshore reserves.
Cyprus is seeking to develop the energy sector to bolster an economy that relies mostly on tourism, business services and shipping.
Cyprus and Egypt are looking into the possibility of transferring gas from the Aphrodite deposit to Egypt via an undersea pipeline. The island has, for now, shelved plans to create its own liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal.
Noble is the only company licensed by Cyprus to have made a discovery, with an estimated 4.54 trillion cubic feet in its Aphrodite field.
Keith Elliot, senior vice-president for Noble in the Eastern Mediterranean, described the field’s prospects as a tremendous opportunity.
“We hope (it) will bring prosperity to both the people of Cyprus and the government of Cyprus, as well as the other countries in the region,” Elliot said.

Source: http://in-cyprus.com/gas-searching-ship-finds-nothing-off-cyprus/

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Θετικές ενδείξεις από γεωτρήσεις ΕΝΙ ΚΟΓΚΑΣ στην Αμαθούσα | Sigma Live

Θετικές ενδείξεις από γεωτρήσεις ΕΝΙ ΚΟΓΚΑΣ στην Αμαθούσα

Έγκυρες και διασταυρωμένες πληροφορίες του Σίγμα αναφέρουν ότι η Ιταλοκορεατική κοινοπραξία ΕΝΙ ΚΟΓΚΑΣ έχει εντοπίσει κοίτασμα φυσικού αερίου στον γεωτρητικό στόχο Αμαθούσα στο οικόπεδο 9 της ΑΟΖ της ΚΔ. 
Πάντως, είναι πολύ νωρίς να γίνει λόγος για αριθμούς και ποσότητες καθώς, όπως αρμοδίως πληροφορούμαστε, λόγω των πολλών στρωμάτων γίνεται ανάλυση των δεδομένων με στόχο την κατάληξη σε μια ασφαλή πρόβλεψη. Θυμίζω εδώ δηλώσεις τεχνοκρατικών παραγόντων προ μηνός ότι η Αμαθούσα μπορεί να κρύβει μέχρι τρία τρις κυβικά πόδια Φ.Α. 
Πρόκειται για μια πολύ θετική εξέλιξη, η οποία προκαλεί αισθήματα ικανοποίησης αλλά και ανακούφισης στην κυβέρνηση που βλέπει τις προοπτικές στο ενεργειακό πεδίο, όχι μόνον να μην καταρρέουν αλλά αντίθετα να ενισχύονται. Όλα θα επιβεβαιωθούν την ερχόμενη Πέμπτη. Ο Υπουργός Ενέργειας Γιώργος Λακκοτρύπης, έχει από χθες βράδυ τα αποτελέσματα της γεώτρησης και μεθαύριο θα ενημερώσει επίσημα το Υπουργικό Συμβούλιο. Αμέσως μετά θα ενημερώσει εκπροσώπους των κοινοβουλευτικών κομμάτων και θα κλείσει τις δραστηριότητες του με την επίσημη ανακοίνωση προς τον Κυπριακό λαό.
Σύμφωνα με επίσημη πληροφόρηση, σε περίπτωση εντοπισμού κοιτάσματος η ΕΝΙ έχει υποχρέωση, μετά το τεχνικό τρίμηνο διάλειμμα για σκοπούς συντήρησης του γεωτρητικού πλοίου, να επιστρέψει στην Αμαθούσα για επιβεβαιωτική γεώτρηση. 
Στην εξίσωση μπαίνει και το θέμα των απευθείας συνομιλιών για το Κυπριακό, που επαναρχίζουν, όπως όλα δείχνουν, τον ερχόμενο Μάιο. 
Το ερώτημα είναι κατά πόσο οι προγραμματισμένες ενέργειες θα επηρεάσουν τον όποιο σχεδιασμό. Υπενθυμίζεται ότι ο Ε. Μ. Άιντα έθεσε στη ζυγαριά όχι μόνο την navtex και το Barbaros, αλλά και την ολοκλήρωση των γεωτρητικών εργασιών. 
Άρα είναι κάτι φανεί στην πορεία και το οποίο θα έχει το δικό του ενδιαφέρον, δεδομένου βέβαια ότι την ερχόμενη Πέμπτη θα επιβεβαιωθεί η ύπαρξη του κοιτάσματος.
   
Πάντως ο λεγόμενος «υπεξ» Οζντίλ Ναμί σε συνέντευξη του έκανε λόγο για «υπερβολές των ε/κ» σε σχέση με τα προσδοκώμενα έσοδα και ζήτησε λόγο και ρόλο των Τ/κ όχι μόνο στα έσοδα, αλλά και στις συμφωνίες με εταιρείες για τα ερευνητικά προγράμματα.
- See more at: http://www.sigmalive.com/news/local/218127/thetikes-endeikseis-apo-geotriseis-eni-kogkas-stin-amathousa#.dpuf



Source: http://www.sigmalive.com/news/local/218127/thetikes-endeikseis-apo-geotriseis-eni-kogkas-stin-amathousa

Monday, March 23, 2015

Eastern Mediterranean Gas: Egyptian pipeline not part of Tamar partners, Dolphinus gas deal - JERUSALEM POST

03.23.2015

EMG lawyer says costs of such an agreement would be ‘unrealistic.’
Following last week’s announcement that Israel’s Tamar reservoir would soon export gas to Egypt through the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Company’s Arish-Ashkelon pipeline, a lawyer for EMG is claiming the company is not party to any such agreement.

“EMG was surprised, once again, to read in the press about an agreement assuming the use of its pipeline for ‘reverse flow’ of gas between the Israeli Tamar Reservoir partners and Dolphinus Holdings Limited,” Nir Sever, a lawyer for M. Firon Advocates & Notaries, wrote to the shareholders of the Tamar reservoir on Sunday.

Sunday, March 22, 2015

Egypt deal for 20 years | IN CYPRUS / CYPRUS WEEKLY

22/03/2015

The gas supply deal from Cyprus to Egypt from the offshore Aphrodite field could be as long as 20 years, according to BG speaking at the Third Annual Eastern Mediterranean Gas Conference in Nicosia this week.

Plans are currently under way to export gas from the Aphrodite field to Egypt via subsea pipeline to supply the underutilised Idku and Union Fenosa liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants in Egypt.

BG would be a partner in the process together with the Cyprus Hydrocarbons Company (CHC) and its Egyptian counterpart, Egas.

Noble Energy, the main partner in the Aphrodite field, met Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades on Tuesday to discuss a development plan for the Aphrodite field, which contains a gross mean of 4.5 trillion cubic feet (tcf).