Saturday, March 11, 2017

Will Lebanon tap its oil and gas wealth? - AL JAZEERA

11 Mar 2017 13:06 GMT

A nine minute video examines Beirut's ambitions to tap into its energy sector and the challenges ahead.

Years of war and political instability have disrupted Lebanon's ambitions to tap into its energy sector.

Bidding for the right to develop oil and gas fields buried offshore is due to start later this year amid hopes the discoveries will help transform the country's economy.

Lebanon, which has the highest debt as a share of annual economic output among Arab states, regularly suffers from power outages.

Oil companies will have to invest millions of dollars in exploration and drilling, but transporting the gas to consumers could prove tricky due to maritime border disputes and political uncertainty in the region.

Neighbouring countries, including Egypt, Israel and Cyprus, have already started production and some fear Lebanon may never catch up.

Imtiaz Tyab reports from Tripoli, in northern Lebanon, about the challenges ahead.

"Once we start drilling, we'll know how much reserves we have, but we should be very prudent and not talk about numbers and figures," said Laury Haytayan, senior MENA officer with the London-based Natural Resource Governance Institute.

"If we want to export, we need to find the right buyers - gas needs buyers before we even starting production. This will be the greatest challenge," Haytayan added.

"The safest and wisest option for Lebanon is to use the gas to meet its domestic needs."

Watch the video 
here.

Friday, March 10, 2017

10,000 Olive Trees to Be Moved for Gas Pipe in Puglia - OLIVE OIL TIMES / REUTERS

March 10, 2017
Julie Al-Zoubi

Ten thousand olive trees, including some as old as 400 years, will be moved from a UNESCO-recognized olive grove in Puglia, as work on the $40 billion Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) finally gets underway.

On 7th March a TAP spokesman told Reuters, “We’re going to start moving the olives in a few days.” He confirmed that the company had complied with all the regulations required to proceed with uprooting the trees. Work was due to begin on TAP last year but was delayed by strong local opposition including protests.

The spokesman confirmed that administration procedures for the removal of the trees were complete. He added that the required health checks on the trees were underway.

Total-Eni forge Cyprus alliance - IN CYPRUS / CYPRUS WEEKLY

March 10, 2017

Italian energy major Eni has finalised a farm-in agreement with France’s Total to acquire 50% participating interest of Block 11, offshore Cyprus.

The agreement, in which Total remains operator of the block, has been approved by the Cabinet.

Under this deal Eni further reinforces its own position in Cyprus exploration, acquiring the right of exploring an area of 2,215 km2, nearby the super giant Zohr discovery in the Egyptian offshore.

The rights on Block 11 were assigned by the Republic of Cyprus to Total back in 2013 at the conclusion of the second international bid round. The exploration well is expected to be drilled in the Block within 2017.

Rosneft and Russia's Evolving Oil Strategy Explained - THE DIPLOMAT

March 10, 2017
Nicholas Trickett

Russia’s recent deals in the Middle East aren’t just about expanding its influence, they’re part of a larger strategy.

Rosneft is deploying its preferred long-term prepayment model to political effect in Kurdistan and Libya, distributing risks between producers and consumers and taking advantage of its access to state money. That model has also earned it closer ties to trading houses like Glencore and Trafigura. The firm applied the same approach to securing a customer for its Venezuelan production—another risky market—in India with its acquisition of Essar Oil.

Watchdog suspends Azerbaijan, EU gas pipeline loans threatened - CLIMATE HOME

Parts of the Southern Gas Corridor are already under
construction in Turkey. (Photo: Tanap)
10/03/2017, 12:59pm
Karl Mathiesen

Billions in development loans at risk after international human rights watchdog strips Azeri membership for failure to increase transparency

A human rights watchdog suspended Azerbaijan’s membership on Thursday, casting doubt on billions of dollars worth of loans being considered for a pipeline linking the country’s gas fields to the EU.

The government of Ilham Aliyev has been repeatedly asked by the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) to lift restrictions on civil society organisations. On Thursday the EITI board, which meets in Oslo, decided that the regime had run out of time.

Turkey, Russia to jointly establish investment fund - DAILY SABAH / ANADOLU AGENCY

MOSCOW, 10.3.2017

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said a significant number of agreements have been prepared for the Turkey-Russia High-Level Cooperation Council (HLCC) meeting in Moscow today.

He revealed that the agreements, set to be signed at the meeting, will not just address the economy, but will also deal with technical and cultural fields.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA) ahead of the HLCC meeting that will bring together President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Minister Novak highlighted that commercial and economic cooperation between Turkey and Russia has gradually recovered after a series of unfortunate events.

Thursday, March 9, 2017

Israel Navy gearing up for its latest mission – protecting Mediterranean gas rigs - HAARETZ

March 09, 2017
Gili Cohen 

It will take two and half years for custom-designed missile boats being built in Germany to arrive. Until then, the navy is not resting on its laurels regarding this strategic economic asset.

For the sailors serving on the Israel Navy’s missile corvettes, the latest revelations concerning the bid for purchasing drilling rig-protecting boats, associated with the procurement of new submarines, have brought about a surprising turn of events. The combat mission of these seamen, which usually remains secretive and submerged, has become an open topic of conversation.

‘Block 11 looks extremely promising’, gas expert says - CYPRUS MAIL

Cyprus' president Nicos Anastasiades (left) w/ European Commission's
president Jean-Claude Juncker
March 9, 2017
Elias Hazou

The partnership between French oil and gas major Total and Italy’s ENI in offshore Block 11 is an extremely significant development as it greatly increases the chances for a natural gas discovery in the licensed acreage, an energy analyst has told the Cyprus Mail.

“We have here a combination of Total’s technical know-how with ENI’s intimate knowledge of the proximate acreage after their discovery of the Zohr gas field in Egyptian waters,” Charles Ellinas said.

The expert confirmed reports that Block 11 is looking extremely promising.

To date, four or five targets have been identified there, he added.

Steel producers promised lower gas prices come December, head of FEI’s steel division says - ENTERPRISE / AL BORSA

Thursday, 9 March 2017

Zohr is a godsend to industry: The government has reportedly once again promised steel producers that it will reduce their natural gas prices to USD 4.5 from USD 7 per mmBtu by the end of 2017 once capacities from new field discoveries come onstream, according to the head of the steel division at the Federation of Egyptian Industries (FEI) Gamal El Garhy, Al Borsa reports. We would usually take this with a grain of salt, but with Zohr coming online, industry appears to be getting a reprieve from higher gas prices. 

ENI-TOTAL synergy on block “11” the best that could happen, says Executive Director of CHC - FAMAGUSTA GAZETTE / CNA

Thursday, 09 March, 2017

Speaking to CNA, he also said that the synergy between energy companies ENI and TOTAL is the best that could happen to the block `11`.

Executive Director of Cyprus Hydrocarbons Company (CHC) Panos Kelamis said Wednesday that he was very optimistic as to the prospects of Cyprus Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), following the successful completion of negotiations for the third licensing round.

Speaking to CNA, he also said that the synergy between energy companies ENI and TOTAL is the best that could happen to the block `11`.

"The prospects are very good," noted the Greek former staff member of Saudi Aramco, referring to the successful completion of negotiations for licensing of blocks "6”, "8” and "10” of the Cyprus EEZ, announced Tuesday by the Minister of Energy George Lakkotrypis. He added that from his background on the exploration he is "too optimistic", but noted that "we should all have patience."

Exxon eyes Israel after Cyprus win - GLOBES

9 Mar, 2017 14:09
Nati Yefet

After winning a Cypriot government tender, Exxon Mobile has expressed interest in bidding for Israeli natural gas tenders.
Minister of National Infrastructure, Energy and Water Resources Yuval Steinitz met last week with senior executives from Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell during his visit to the US. The minister's associates say that while Royal Dutch Shell will probably not take part in the new tender for oil and gas exploration licenses in Israeli waters, the Exxon Mobil executives came equipped with a great deal of relevant information, and expressed interest in the tender.

SOFAZ allocated over $1B for Southern Gas Corridor - TREND NEWS AGENCY

9 March 2017 08:30 (UTC+04:00)
Baku, Azerbaijan, Maksim Tsurkov

The State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) allocated more than $1.23 billion or 1.53 million Azerbaijani manats for the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) project in 2014-2016, says a report on the activity of Azerbaijan’s Cabinet of Ministers in 2016.

The report says that in 2016, in order to finance the Azerbaijani government’s share in the Southern Gas Corridor CJSC, SOFAZ transferred 797.4 million manats ($495.2 million) to the country’s Economy Ministry.

Expenditures for this purpose accounted for 33.9 percent of SOFAZ’s planned budget.

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

RPT-BUZZ-Rosneft buys Egyptian crude for first time in tender - REUTERS

Wed Mar 8, 2017 6:08pm GMTReporting By Julia Payne; Editing by Susan Fenton

The trading arm of Russia's state oil firm Rosneft bought three cargoes of Egypt's heavy sour Ras Gharib grade, the first time the company has bought Egyptian crude, trading sources familiar with the matter said.

Geneva-based Rosneft Trading won the cargoes loading in April, May and June via a sell tender by Egypt's state owned EGPC that closed on Feb. 24.

EGPC sold a total of seven cargoes, Swiss trader Petraco won the remaining four.

Rosneft is now sourcing light crude grades for its German refinery after a deal with partner BP expired last year.

Energy diversification top priority for Turkey, Minister Albayrak says - DAILY SABAH / ANADOLU AGENCY

AA Photo
HOUSTON, TX, 8 March 2018

Turkey's main goal in the energy sector is diversification, Energy Minister Berat Albayrak told a U.S. conference Tuesday.

"More than half of our electricity generation is from gas," he told the IHS CERAWeek energy conference in Houston, Texas. "This can't be sustainable, so we changed this strategy.

"We are aiming to diversify our natural gas portfolio in the following years."

The last 15 years have seen Turkey's GDP rise from $200 billion to more than $800 billion, while public debt to GDP ratio shrunk from 80 percent in 2002 to around 30 percent today.

"You have to invest in energy to meet this growth and your growth targets," Albayrak said.

Tuesday, March 7, 2017

Cyprus agrees gas exploration deals - EXPATICA / AFP

Oil firms active in the Cypriot EEZ at the end of negotiations
regarding Cyprus' 3rd Licensing Round
7th March 2017

US energy giant ExxonMobil, Qatar Petroleum, Italy's ENI and France's Total have successfully bid for rights to explore for oil and gas off the coast of Cyprus, officials said Tuesday.

The contracts, part of the Mediterranean island's third licensing round, will be approved by the cabinet on March 17, Cyprus trade minister George Lakkotrypis told reporters.

ENI and Total jointly negotiated a licence for a block off the island's south coast while ENI secured another on its own. ExxonMobil and Qatar Petroleum successfully bid for a third.

"This is a very important development for both the Cypriot Exclusive Economic Zone and the eastern Mediterranean in general," said Lakkotrypis.

"It reinforces the prospect for hydrocarbons in the area," he added. "You will find that companies are quite optimistic as to the prospects for the eastern Mediterranean, and more specifically the Cypriot EEZ."

Some of the firms could begin exploratory drilling this year, Lakkotrypis said.

Eni finalizes farm-in agreement with Total, acquiring interest offshore Cyprus - WORLD OIL

March/7/2017

SAN DONATO MILANESE -- Eni announces that has finalized a farm-in agreement with Total to acquire 50% participating interest of Block 11, offshore Cyprus.

The agreement, by which Total remains the Operator of the block, has been approved by the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Cyprus. With this transaction Eni further reinforces its own position in the Country, acquiring the right of exploring an area of 2,215 km2, nearby the super giant Zohr discovery in the Egyptian offshore.

The rights on Block 11 were assigned by the Republic of Cyprus to Total back in 2013 at the conclusion of the second international bid round held by the Country. The exploration well is expected to be drilled in the Block within 2017.

The disputed gas fields in the eastern Mediterranean - AL JAZEERA

07 Mar 2017 19:14 GMT

The eastern Mediterranean sea has several large natural gas deposits. The fields could be worth billions of dollars.

Lebanon and Israel have been involved in a maritime dispute regarding the exact location of their sea borders. The contested area is important to both countries because it might harbour natural-gas fields.

Israel has one of the largest gas fields in the region, the Leviathan field. Parts of that field could potentially extend into territory claimed by both Israel and Lebanon 
[TEKMOR Note: Misleading]. This gas deposit is so big, it could potentially lead to Israel becoming an energy exporter.

Meanwhile, Egypt has what has been called a "supergiant gas field" within its waters, the Zohr gas field.

Still, Egypt might face a gas-energy crisis despite being one of the largest gas-producing countries in Africa, as an investigation by Al Jazeera showed 
[TEKMOR Note: Old news].

US-Israel-Greece poised for annual maritime drill in Eastern Mediterranean - DEFENSE NEWS

The Hellenic Navy Psara, F-454, front, sails past the Israeli Navy
Keshet, Saar 4.5, while transiting the Mediterranean Sea as seen from
the bridge wing of the U.S. destroyer Porter during Exercise Noble
Dina on April 4, 2016. Photo Credit, MC3 Robert S. Price/US Navy
March 7, 2017
Barbara Opall-Rome

ISRAELI NAVY HEADQUARTERS, Haifa – The trilateral Noble Dina exercise between the American, Israeli and Hellenic navies will begin later this month, with nearly a dozen surface ships, submarines and related air assets scheduled to engage in joint reconnaissance, counterterror and antisubmarine warfare training.

Cyprus will participate as an observer in the annual three-way drill, which begins in Greece and will conclude in mid-April here at the Israeli Navy headquarters in Haifa, said Commander Assaf Boneh, the head of international cooperation for the Israeli sea service.

“It’s one of our most important exercises that allows us to hone our proficiencies in very complex scenarios,” Boneh told Defense News. “We’ll be training in a vast area from Greece to Israel, and this gives us a lot of room to practice multiple scenarios that require jointness.”

Greece says East Med gas pipeline to Europe feasible - NEW EUROPE

MARCH 7, 2017, 15:25
Kostis Geropoulos

Project plans to connect Levantine Basin with Cyprus, Greece


DELPHI, Greece – A pipeline planned to transport natural gas from the recently discovered fields in Eastern Mediterranean to Europe is feasible and viable, the CEO of Greece’s Public Gas Corporation has said.

“There has been a lot of speculation over the past years, people talking of ‘Pharaonic’ projects. I was personally a bit hesitant. Now, we have conclusion of the studies that this pipeline is technically feasible, economically viable and commercially competitive,” Theodoros Kitsakos said, referring to the Eastern Mediterranean Pipeline (East Med).


Addressing an energy panel on the third day of the Delphi Economic Forum on March 4, Kitsakos displayed slides for the first time in public showing the technical feasibility of the East Med pipeline. “From a technical background all steps are quite feasible. There is only one small piece of less than 10 kilometres just before the island of Crete where the depth is quite high,” he said. “But technology has advanced so we can cover this also so the whole route is guaranteed,” he said.

Israel's Shapir Weighing Bid for Natural Gas License Tender - BLOOMBERG

7 March 2017, 11:39 am EETYaacov Benmeleh and David Wainer
  • Company may need to find a partner with energy expertise
  • Shapir shares have outperformed global peers in last year
Shapir Engineering and Industry Ltd., which develops residential, commercial and industrial construction projects in Israel, is considering expanding its operations into offshore energy exploration.

The Petach Tikvah, Israel-based company is mulling a bid to drill for oil and gas in the 24 new blocks opened for exploration in the country’s economic waters, a company spokeswoman told Bloomberg. 

ExxonMobil and Qatar Petroleum the new entrants in Cyprus' EEZ

George Lakkotrypis, the Cypriot Minister of Energy, tweeted "Significant developments in #Cyprus oil & gas. Shaping a new picture in Cyprus #EEZ and impacting the potential of the #EastMed as a whole."

The map seen here which accompanied the tweet shows the licensees at the successful conclusion of the negotiations pertaining to Cyprus' 3rd licensing round.

New entrants are ExxonMobil and Qatar Petroleum in block 10. ENI, already present in the Cypriot EEZ, picks up blcoks 6 and 8, the former in an alliance with Total.

In a separate development, block 11 was farmed out with the block's rights now shared by ENi (50%) and Total (50%).

Monday, March 6, 2017

National Dialogue “only way out of political stalemate in Libya” Egypt insists after LNA oil crescent reverse - LIBYA HERALD

Tunis, 6 March 2017

Egypt has insisted that dialogue is the only way Libya can extract itself from the current political crisis. Resuming the UN-brokered Libya Dialogue was of critical importance and would help safeguard the interests of its people, Egypt’s National Committee on Libya said stated today.

Libya, it added, had an “historic opportunity” to reach a political consensus bereft of outside interference to end the suffering of its people and ensure stability.

The committee is headed by Egypt’s Chief of Staff, Lieutenant-General Mahmoud Hegazy.

MPs present wish-list of how to spend future gas revenue - CYPRUS MAIL

March 6, 2017
Elias Hazou

MPs on Monday began an article-by-article discussion of a government bill governing the establishment and operation of a National Investment Fund to manage future hydrocarbons proceeds.

The representatives of the parties each had their own ideas as to how the funds should be invested.

Akel [left] called for the addition of a reference where part of the funds would be diverted to ‘public-interest’ investments.

The party would also like to insert a provision allowing funds to be invested in developing the hydrocarbons industry on the island; as it stands, the bill makes no such reference.

BP to process 600 mcf/d of gas from WND using Shell’s Burullus treatment plant - ENTERPRISE / AL BORSA

Monday, 6 March 2017

BP is bringing 600 mcf/d of gas from West Nile Delta (WND) project’s Taurus and Libra fields in North Alexandria onstream and will process them at Shell’s Burullus gas treatment plant by the end of April, an unnamed source told Al Borsa.

The sources say Shell will charge BP USD 0.3 per mcf of gas processed in its plant and that BP is now completing a pipeline to link the Burullus plant with the gas fields. Production output from West Nile Delta (WND) project’s five fields will increase gradually to 1.25 mcf/d by end of 2019.

Sunday, March 5, 2017

Leviathan off the starting blocks - IN CYPRUS / CYPRUS WEEKLY

March 5, 2017
Charles Ellinas

Phase 1A of the Leviathan gasfield is finally off the starting blocks. Noble Energy and its partners reached FID on 23 February for Phase 1A, which involves the production of 12bcm/yr starting end of 2019. This can only be seen as positive news for the Leviathan partners and the Israeli gas market.


Leviathan was discovered in 2010 and it is estimated to hold 622bcm of recoverable gross natural gas resources. It is owned by Noble Energy with 39.66%, Delek Drilling with 22.67%, Avner with 22.67% and Ratio with 15%.
In the following, I analyse the FID decision, describe the deal and its potential impact on Energean and discuss the implications on East Med gas.

Towards a Balkan gas hub: the interplay between pipeline gas, LNG and renewable energy in South East Europe - OXFORD INSTITUTE FOR ENERGY STUDIES

February 2017
Aleksandar Kovacevic

Preface by 
Howard Rogers - The OIES Natural Gas Programme has published four previous papers on South Eastern European gas, two of which were by Aleksandar Kovacevic. This paper addresses the potential for the region to evolve to a situation where a more diverse set of gas supply options established a degree of competition through gas on gas pricing and an emergent trading activity. 

Egypt inaugurates major gas-fired power plants - CONSTRUCTION WEEK ONLINE

Mar 5, 2017 James Morgan

The first phases of Egypt’s New Capital and Burullus power plants have been officially inaugurated.

The projects, which are being built by a consortium comprising Siemens, Orascom, and Elsewedy Electric, will be the largest gas-fired combined cycle power plants (CCPPs) upon completion.

The consortium has already succeeded in connecting 2,400MW to Egypt’s national grid through the power plants, exceeding delivery targets by 20%.

Once complete, each power plant will generate a total of 4,800MW.

MENA countries need to get more creative when exploring for oil - THE NATIONAL

March 5, 2017 01:55 PM
Robin Mills

By August 2015, Eni seemed out of luck in the eastern Mediterranean. Two wells drilled off the shore of Cyprus had been failures. Several other companies looked at data on its deepwater block north of Egypt, where Shell had sunk 10 wells in previous years without any real success, but decided against taking a share. There was a promising deeper structure with untested geology, but the Italian company would have to go it alone.

Eni drilled in almost a kilometre-and-a-half of water, then through more than 4,000 metres of sand, shales and salt. During the Miocene period 6 million years ago, the entire Mediterranean dried up, leaving a thick layer of salt – ideal for trapping any oil or gas that formed below it.

'Cyprus deal could speed up Turkey energy project' - ARUTZ SHEVA 7 / ISRAEL NATIONAL NEWS


AFP, 05/03/17 12:10
A Cyprus peace deal would speed up Israel's project to provide gas to Turkey, the new Israeli ambassador to Ankara said Wednesday.

Eitan Naeh became Israel's first ambassador in Turkey in December when relations resumed in the summer after a six-year diplomatic rift.


"We think that the solution to the Cyprus problem can speed up the energy project," Naeh said, adding it was a "win-win" for everyone.

"A Cyprus solution will make life easier for all," he told reporters during a briefing in Ankara.

Naeh was referring to exporting gas from the Leviathan field off its coast, discovered in 2010 and set to begin production in 2019.

The best way for gas to be exported between Turkey and Israel would be a pipeline via the territorial waters of Cyprus.