Saturday, September 24, 2016

First welded pipes lowered in for TAP - AZER TAC

24.09.2016 [13:54]
Baku, AZERTAC

“In Greece, the pipeline Right of Way (RoW) clearance and grading began close to the Greek-Turkish border as well as near Kavala,” said Lisa Givert, Head of Communications at Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP).

“As of today, over 17.3 km of line pipes have been strung along our route and approximately 8.4 km welded. On 19 September the first welded pipes were lowered in,” she noted.

“Line pipes continue to arrive to Kavala, Thessaloniki and Alexandroupolis. So far, approximately 30% of the 32,000 line pipes needed to build the 550km Greek section have been delivered,” Givert added.

Friday, September 23, 2016

Amarinth delivers API 610 VS4 pumps for STAR refinery in Turkey - HYDROCARBON PROCESSING

9/23/2016

Amarinth, a company specializing in the design, application and manufacture of centrifugal pumps and associated equipment to the oil and gas, petrochemical, chemical, industrial and power markets, has delivered its first order to the Indian operation of Aquatec consisting of exotic alloy API 610 VS4 pumps for use in the SOCAR Turkey Agean refinery (STAR) in Turkey.

The STAR project, set for completion in 2018, will be the first oil refinery to start operations in Turkey since the early 1970s and will process an estimated 10 MMtpy of crude oil. Located five kilometers from Aliaga, Izmir Province, the project also includes the construction and operation of three marine shipping terminals and a new stand-alone wastewater treatment plant for managing refinery by-product.

Egypt Makes Its LNG Importer Picks For Remainder Of 2016 - OILPRICE.COM

By Zainab Calcuttawala - Sep 23, 2016, 4:33 PM CDT



Egypt has chosen three firms to supply liquefied natural gas to its markets for the remainder of 2016, closing a tender it had issued two weeks ago, according to a recent report by Reuters.

Glencore, an Anglo-Swiss commodities trading house, will supply cargo for October; Dutch Trafigura will deliver a shipment for November; and U.K.-based B.B. Energy – a relatively new player in the LNG trade – will arrange the December order.

LNG Traders Eye One Last Egyptian Bonanza as Demand Nears Peak - BLOOMBERG

Anna Shiryaevskaya, September 23, 2016 — 11:28 AM EEST
  • State-run EGAS seeks to import 120 LNG cargoes next year
  • Egypt may stop LNG imports as early as 2020, resume exports
The world’s biggest liquefied natural gas traders will be lining up for what may be the last billion-dollar payday from Egypt.

Egypt is seeking about 120 LNG cargoes for next year, worth about $2.4 billion at current spot prices in Singapore. That may be “the last big tender” if recent discoveries in the North African nation start production in 2018, according to Maggie Kuang, an analyst in Singapore at Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

Azerbaijan's SOCAR to hold Greek gas grid deal talks in Athens - REUTERS

Fri Sep 23, 2016 11:50am GMT

BAKU, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Azerbaijan's state energy company SOCAR plans to hold talks with Greek officials over a deal to buy Greek natural gas pipeline operator DESFA, SOCAR's president said on Friday.

In 2013, SOCAR agreed to 66 percent of the crisis-hit gas supply grid operator for 400 million euros ($448.5 million). But the deal stalled after SOCAR was ordered to sell 17 percent of DESFA to a third party to satisfy EU competition authorities.

Complicating the sale further, Greece passed a law in July raising DESFA's gas tariffs from next year by a much lower amount than expected.

"Our delegation will hold negotiations in Greece on September 27-28," Rovnag Abdullayev told reporters.

Thursday, September 22, 2016

Southern Corridor gas pipeline is on schedule, BP official says - OIL & GAS JOURNAL

WASHINGTON, DC, 09/22/2016, By Nick Snow, OGJ Washington Editor

The Southern Corridor natural gas pipeline system, which aims to transport gas 2,175 miles from the Caspian Sea to southern Europe, is on schedule and expected to come in under budget, a BP PLC official told an Atlantic Council forum on Sept. 21.

“There still are potential technical delays that remain for this project,” said Joe Murphy, Southern Corridor vice-president for BP’s Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey operations. “This economic environment is different from when the partners signed the contracts, but if we can continue meeting deadlines on time, the project will be economic.”

Its three main challenges are getting regional permits in Italy, acquiring land in Greece and Albania, and potential technical delays, he said during a discussion of the project which actually involves three pipelines:

Energy high on agenda at meeting with Biden, Anastasiades addresses General Assembly (Updated) - CYPRUS MAIL

SEPTEMBER 22ND, 2016 ELIAS HAZOU

PRESIDENT Nicos Anastasiades on Thursday met with US Vice President Joe Biden and top-level US officials on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York with energy obviously high on the agenda.

Attesting to the significance of the meeting, which lasted just over an hour, was the participation of Victoria Nuland, the US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, and Amos Hochstein, the US State Department’s Special Envoy for International Energy Affairs Bureau of Energy Resources.

Egypt leads drop in Middle East drilling activity - INTERFAX

By Verity Ratcliffe 22 September 2016 8:55 GMT

The number of rigs targeting gas in the Middle East fell to 94 in August from 102 in the previous month, led by declining activity in Egypt and Pakistan.


Egypt imports liquefied natural gas worth $2.2bn - MEMO

September 22, 2016 at 7:30 pm 

The Egyptian Holding Company for Natural Gas (EGAS), owned by the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, announced yesterday that it had bought 89 shipments of liquefied natural gas during the fiscal year 2015/2016 at a cost of $2.2 billion to fill the current gap between production and consumption.

In Egypt, the fiscal year begins early July, according to the General Budget Law.

The company announced, according to a statement issued by the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum, that during the fiscal year 2015/2016 14 new discoveries were made and reserves reached 31.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 38 million barrels of condensate.

Italy's Eni raises potential of Egyptian Nile Delta gas field Baltim - AHRAM ONLINE

Thursday 22 Sep 2016 

Italy’s Eni has upgraded the potential production of the Egyptian Nile Delta gas field, Baltim South West, to 1 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of gas, the company stated on its website on Thursday.

The Baltim South West field is located in the conventional waters of the Nile Delta, in water 25 metres deep, 12 km from the coastline and just 10 km from the Nooros field, discovered in July 2015 and already in production.

The group said that with the new potential rise, the gas potential of the so-called “Great Nooros Area” reaches 3 Tcf of gas in place, of which about 2 Tcf are in the Nooros field, while the remaining are in the new independent discovery of Baltim South West.

Gov’t aiming to revive talks over DESFA deal with Socar, Snam - KATHIMERINI

21.09.2016 : 21:29 CHRYSSA LIAGGOU

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is expected to get directly involved in the privatization of Greece’s natural gas grid operator DESFA in the next few days in a bid to end the impasse in the project. This will involve sidestepping Energy Minister Panos Skourletis, who does not see eye to eye with the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (Socar), which is the chosen buyer, or Italian natural gas infrastructure company Snam, a candidate investor.

Under pressure from the country’s creditors to wrap up the sell-off as soon as possible (given that Socar’s letter of guarantee for the acquisition of 66 percent of DESFA expires at the end of September), the government will seek to restore communications with the Azeri side after this was interrupted due to Skourletis’s poor handling of the deal.

Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Russia’s belated Greek gambit - INTERFAX

Greece’s Alexis Tsipras, centre, and Russia’s Arkady Dvorkovich
at the trade fair in Thessaloniki. (PA)
By Paul Sampson 20 September 2016 12:03 GMT

Now that the Turkish Stream gas pipeline project is back on the agenda, Russia is making a push for a new "southern corridor" that would see its gas pumped across Greece to the Balkans and Central Europe.

During a visit to the Greek port town of Thessaloniki on 10 September to attend an international trade fair, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak and Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich pitched the idea of a new east-west pipeline network with Greece at its epicentre.

Russia’s master plan is to revive the Interconnector-Turkey-Greece-Italy (ITGI) project, devised in 2005 by Italy’s Edison – now a subsidiary of France’s EDF – and Greek state importer DEPA as a way of transporting gas from the Caspian to Italy.

Libya Ramps Up Crude Exports as Ports Reopen for First Time Since 2014 - GCAPTAIN / BLOOMBERG

Crude Oil Tanker 'Syra' (600.000 bbl capacity)
September 20, 2016 by Bloomberg

By Saleh Sarrar and Hatem Mohareb

(Bloomberg) — Libya boosted crude production by more than 70 percent since August as some oil fields resumed output and export terminals in the OPEC country reopened for their first overseas loadings in two years.

The North African nation’s crude output rose to 450,000 barrels a day after work resumed at some oil fields, Ibrahim Al-Awami, head of oil measurement department at state-run National Oil Corp., said by phone on Tuesday. Armed conflicts and political disputes have hobbled the country’s production, which slid to 260,000 barrels a day last month, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

The Israeli natural gas industry: where do we go now? - PIPELINES INTERNATIONAL

SEPTEMBER 20, 2016

Partners Shiri Shaham and Simon Weintraub at Israeli law firm Yigal Arnon & Co explore the natural gas industry in Israel.

After years of deliberations, negotiations and amendments, the Israeli government recently adopted its final framework for the regulation of the burgeoning natural gas sector.

This exciting development is a reflection of the country’s vibrant democracy, strong rule of law, and climate of regulatory certainty; it will hopefully foster geopolitical stability in the eastern Mediterranean basin, and will potentially promote economic co-development projects and unprecedented investment opportunities in the region.

Taqa Arabia, Dolphinus call for licence to import gas from EGAS to private sector - DAILY NEWS EGYPT

Preliminary approval to be granted to companies that request licences to sell gas in local market, says source

Mohamed Adel September 20, 2016

Taqa Arabia and Dolphinus Holdings sent a formal request to Egyptian Natural Gas Holding (EGAS) to obtain a licence to import natural gas through the private sector in the Egyptian market.

A senior source in the petroleum sector told Daily News Egypt that the gas market regulation authority is awaiting the issuance of the law by the House of Representatives that will allow licences to be issued to private companies to import gas and sell it in the local market.

The source added that the foreign companies that applied to obtain the licence cannot be mentioned as of now.

It is expected to approve the completion of the gas market regulation law by the end of 2016, according to the source.

Monday, September 19, 2016

Egypt Government to Start IPO Program With Oil Companies - BLOOMBERG

Tamim Elyan, Abdel Latif Wahba, September 19, 2016 — 9:22 AM EEST
  • Authorities aim to raise $10 billion within 3 to 5 years
  • Egypt has also reached an initial $12 billion IMF loan deal
Egypt is set to launch its initial public offerings in government-owned companies with oil sector businesses, aiming to collect up to $10 billion dollars within three to five years, the minister of investment said.

The government is studying which companies will participate in the program, Minister of Investment Dalia Khorshid said in an e-mailed response to questions. The government will pick local and international investment banks to advise on the offerings.

Florida Congressional Representatives Push Cypriot Energy Exploration - SUNSHINE STATE NEWS

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Gus Bilirakis
By KEVIN DERBY, September 19, 2016 - 6:00am

With energy exploration and offshore drilling becoming an increasingly important part of the economy of Cyprus, two Florida Republicans are pushing for increased American ties with that Mediterranean nation.

Cyprus has found promising results in exploring the [Aphrodite] gas field in the eastern Mediterranean. So has Israel. From her perch as chairwoman of the U.S. House Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee, U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., teamed up with U.S. Rep. Randy Weber, R-Texas, the chair of the U.S House Science, Space, & Technology Committee, earlier this month on a hearing on “Eastern Mediterranean Energy: Challenges and Opportunities for U.S. Regional Priorities.”

Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., noted that she joined Weber, U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., and U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-NY, in visiting Israel and Cyprus back in June.