Corinth to manufacture Karish steel pipes - OFFSHORE MAGAZINE

JUNE/08/2018

MAROUSSI, Greece – TechnipFMC has contracted Corinth Pipeworks Pipe Industry to manufacture and supply steel pipes for Energean’s Karish gas field development in the Mediterranean Sea offshore Israel.

The agreement covers 90 km (56 mi) of 24-in. and 30-in. LSAW pipe material for the offshore gas pipeline: this will connect the subsea manifold at a maximum water depth of 1,750 m (5,741 ft) to the receiving terminal onshore.

Pipe manufacture and coating will start at Corinth Pipeworks facility in Greece later this year.

Egypt lets contract for Midor refinery expansion - OIL & GAS JOURNAL

Houston, JUNE/08/2018
Robert Brelsford

The government of Egypt has let a contract to TechnipFMC PLC to provide services related to the implementation of the expansion at state-owned Middle East Oil Refinery Co.’s (Midor) 115,000-b/d refinery in El Amreya Free Zone, Alexandria, Egypt.

Signed on June 7, the $1.7-billion contract will cover construction, supplies, and engineering designs for the expansion, which aims to increase overall refining capacity at the site by 60% to 175,000 b/d, Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources (MPMR) said.

Overall cost of Midor’s expansion project—which will include participation of Egypt’s ENPPI and Petrojet—will amount to about $2.2 billion, MOP said.

Alongside increasing Midor’s crude processing capacity, the expansion also will raise the refinery’s current LNG production by about 145,000 tonnes/year, benzene 95 by about 600,000 tpy, and jet fuel by about 1.3 million tpy.

The Midor expansion comes as part of MPMR’s integrated plan to develop, upgrade, and increase efficiency and production quality of Egypt’s refineries through implementation of a series of new projects across manufacturing sites to help meet domestic petroleum product demand as well as reduce imports from abroad, said Tariq El-Molla, Egypt’s minister of petroleum and natural resources.

Italy says mulling late-in-the game changes for massive TAP natural gas project - XINHUA NEWS

2018 JUNE 08, 05:33:26
Eric J. Lyman

ROME, June 7 (Xinhua) -- The future of the ambitious Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), which aims to give western Europe access to natural gas from Azerbaijan's massive Shah Deniz fields, may be in doubt after leading officials in the new Italian government said the project made no sense for Italy.

Sergio Costa, who was installed as Italian environment minister under Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte less than a week ago, promised to launch a study into whether Italy will benefit from continuing to participate in the so-called TAP project. And Minister of the South Barbara Lezzi expressed worry about environmental risks associated with TAP.

The 4.5-billion-euro (5.4-billion-U.S. dollar) TAP project spans 880 kilometers (550 miles) from the border between Turkey and Greece, across Greece into Albania, under the Adriatic Sea, and into San Foca in the southern Italian region of Apulia. From there, it will link with existing gas infrastructure to reach multiple western European markets.

Israel offers Lebanon resolution to border dispute - INTERFAX

 7 June 2018

Israel made a proposal to Lebanon offering a resolution of a long-standing border dispute between the two countries, according to Lebanon’s Speaker Nabih Berri in a report published by Hezbollah’s Al-Manar news service.

The proposal covers onshore and offshore territory.

Total, Eni and Novatek hold a licence to explore Lebanon’s Block 9, part of which crosses the disputed area.

Israel’s proposal was delivered to Lebanon by a US delegation last week, said Berri.

Israel navy drills attack on offshore gas rigs - THE TIMES OF ISRAEL

6 June 2018, 1:34 pm

The Israeli Navy successfully completed a complex exercise last week led by its missile boats flotilla, the military announced Wednesday.

The drill included two major attack and defense scenarios at sea.

In the first scenario, an aircraft simulated a missile threat against an Israeli gas rig. The threat was detected on board a Sa’ar 4.5 missile boat, and was shot down by an interceptor missile launched from the ship.

The navy noted that the ship was recently fitted with state-of-the art detection and observation systems, including the new Fire Sickle radar system which officials said significantly improves vessels’ tracking capabilities.

Last week’s drill was the first live test of the ship in its new configuration.

In the second scenario, a seaborne target simulating an enemy ship was struck by two cruise missiles launched by the ships INS Lahav and INS Kidon. The target was successfully hit and destroyed.

New proposals may help resolve Israel/Lebanon oil and gas dispute - REUTERS

JUNE 5, 2018 / 10:46 AM
Ari Rabinovitch

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - New ideas proposed in U.S. back-channel mediation of an Israeli-Lebanese maritime dispute over oil and gas exploration in the eastern Mediterranean raise the prospect of a partial deal this year, Israel’s energy minister said.

Israel kicked off a gas bonanza in the eastern Mediterranean almost a decade ago with the discovery of two huge gas fields. Others were found in Egypt and Cyprus, and companies are now exploring Lebanese waters as well.

One of the Lebanese blocks being explored, Block 9, borders Israel’s maritime zone and contains waters claimed by both countries. The disputed border also touches two other not-yet-licensed Lebanese blocks.

This has led to years of brinkmanship with officials on both sides promising to protect their resources and warning about encroachment.

“There are some new ideas on the table. More than that I cannot discuss,” Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz, said in a Reuters interview. He oversees energy exploration in Israel and is the pointman in indirect negotiations with Lebanon.