Friday, September 20, 2019

"Energean Power" FPSO hull construction, a 10-month journey in 90 seconds! - ENERGEAN OIL & GAS

Sep 20, 2019


The "Energean Power" FPSO floated out from the COSCO's shipyards, in Zhoushan, China in mid - September. An important milestone for the development of gas discoveries in the East Mediterranean, achieved also with a great HSE record: under TechnipFMC project management, more than 3 million man hours  with no Lost Time Injuries have been completed! See you soon at the Sembcorp Marine Admiralty Yard in Singapore!

Egyptian LNG to return to full operation - PETROLEUM ECONOMIST


Houston, 20 September 2019
Peter Ramsay

The 7.2mn t/yr Egyptian LNG (ELNG) facility will return to 100pc of nameplate capacity next month, the firm’s senior optimisation manager Tamer Abdelsalam told the Gastech conference in Houston. It is currently operating at 90pc capacity.

Full output is a far cry from the dark days of mid-2013 to mid-2019, when the volume of feed gas reaching the plant hovered at 13-15pc of design capacity. During that period, ELNG produced just 31mn m³ of LNG and exported 21 cargoes, bring in only $354mn in revenues, says Abdelsalam.

The return of ELNG, located at Idku, to full capacity may not, though, be followed swiftly by a full restart of Egypt’s other export terminal at Damietta. “That is for the government,” says Adelsalam. “They are taking the lead in negotiations around Damietta.”

Thursday, September 19, 2019

If Egypt Won’t Buy Israel’s Gas, Maybe Israeli Consumers Will - HAARETZ

Sep 19, 2019 5:03 AM
Ora Coren

If Israel is having trouble selling its natural gas overseas, maybe it will have better luck selling it to Israeli consumers.

That’s the reasoning behind a pilot project to hook up 15 new residential neighborhoods to the national gas pipeline network. Instead of having gas cylinders delivered by truck, homes would be connected by pipeline and gas could then be used for more things than cooking and heating.

The Energy Ministry, which is behind the project, faces a lot of skepticism from the local industry about the economic viability to households using more gas. The pilot, which will include subsidiaries to the tune of 80 million shekels ($22.7 million), aims to prove them wrong.

“There’s a lot of uncertainty about it, so the government is acting wisely and before it jumps into the deep waters of regulations it is examining for itself and for the gas distribution companies whether they can provide the service,” said one source involved in the project.

Ganope Discovers Three Oil Wells in FY 2019/20 - EGYPT OIL & GAS

Thursday, 19th September 2019

Ganoub El Wadi Petroleum Holding Company (Ganope) achieved three new oil discoveries at its oil fields, two of which were brought online at the oil fields of Eish AL Mallaha and Petro Mallaha during Fiscal Year (FY) 2019/20, a press release by the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources pointed out.

The three wells are being evaluated with investments reaching $20 million. The PGC had completed drilling the first well at the end of August. Still under evaluation, the third one, located at the Suez Gulf area and operated by Petrogulf Corporation (PGC) is the biggest of all.

Such statements came during a meeting between the Ganope Head Mohamed Abdel Azzim and Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Tarek El Molla, in the attendance of Aswan governor, Ahmad Ibrahim.

El Molla confirmed during the meeting that the coming period will witness an intensive activity in the research, Exploration and Production (E&P) in the Red Sea after International Oil Companies (IOCs) offers had been submitted and evaluated. This will be the first global bid for research and exploration for oil and gas in this region, which opens new horizons to attract more investments and achieve new discoveries.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Eni, Total join for another gas search license off Cyprus - THE WASHINGTON POST / ASSOCIATED PRESS

September 18 at 8:53 AM

NICOSIA, Cyprus — Energy companies Total of France and Italy’s Eni have teamed up to expand their search for natural gas off southern coast, signing a licensing agreement Wednesday.

Cypriot Energy Minister Georgios Lakkotrypis said the companies will have an equal share in a new block into which a gas deposit that Eni discovered in an adjacent block last year is believed to extend.

Lakkotrypis said Total also gains a 20-40% share in four of Eni’s concessions inside Cyprus’ exclusive economic zone. Korea’s Kogas is also a partner with a 20% share in three of the four concessions.

With Wednesday’s signing, Eni and Total now hold exploration licenses for seven of Cyprus’ 13 blocks. ExxonMobil and a partnership between Texas-based Noble Energy, Dutch Shell and Israeli Delek hold licenses for one block each.

The two companies are expected to drill six wells in their blocks over the next two years.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

NEPCO signs gas supply agreements - THE JORDAN TIMES

Sep 17,2019

AMMAN — The National Electric Power Company (NEPCO) and the Jordanian-Egyptian FAJR for Natural Gas Transmission and Supply Company on Tuesday signed two agreements with two companies to provide them with natural gas.

The first agreement stipulates providing the Jordan Phosphate Mines Company (JPMC) with a daily supply of four million cubic feet of natural gas, while the other deal is an amendment to a gas provision agreement with the Nuqul Group, according to a statement by the Ministry of Energy.

Energy Minister Hala Zawati said that the ministry effortlessly work to reduce the costs of energy bills through encouraging local industries to shift to natural gas, as part of the government’s endeavours to help these industries reduce operational costs and increase their competitiveness in the local and international markets.

Zawati said that using natural gas will contribute to lowering the energy costs in factories by 25 to 55 per cent, depending on the type of the fuel replaced with the natural gas.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Ambassador Pyatt’s Remarks at ELIAMEP - U.S. EMBASSY IN ATHENS

September 16, 2019

Ambassador Pyatt: I will try to mirror my Cyprus counterpart and be brief so we have time for discussion.

Let me start by commending Thanos, ELIAMEP and Claudia and DEREE for putting this event together. This is a really important set of issues and I’m delighted to be able to have this prestigious audience, to have Ambassador Theodorou here, and also to have my new Israeli counterpart whom I look forward very much to working with in the months and years ahead.

I would also note, we’re meeting at a particularly busy time for the American Embassy in Greece. We had Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross here two weeks ago for a visit that highlighted the United States’ enthusiasm for the changes that are happening under the new Greek government and the investment and economic opportunities, the green light which we see in the decisions that are coming from Prime Minister Mitsotakis and his team.

Sinai Security Fears Snare Israel's Gas Exports to Egypt - HAARETZ

Tamar Petroleum's IPO back in July 2017 
Sep 16, 2019 3:13 AM
Eran Azran
  • Egypt says Israeli gas exports on track but cites low figures
  • Israel to begin gas exports to Egypt within months, energy minister says
  • Egypt praised for economic reforms, but millions of Egyptians barely survive
Investor anxieties over the Tamar natural gas field have deepened in recent days amid security concerns about the pipeline designated to deliver Israeli gas to Egypt.

The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that delays in completing a key agreement to facilitate the exports were due to the tense security situation in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.

“There’s some infrastructure that needs to be repaired in that area. That’s part of the holdup for shipping the gas,” the paper quoted U.S. Deputy Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette as saying. “No one wants to send individuals into harm’s way.”

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Challenges to Israel’s gas exports - CYPRUS MAIL

September 15, 2019
Charles Ellinas

Since discovery of natural gas in its exclusive economic zone Israel has been dreaming of exports, riches and political influence. Massive political capital has been expended in this direction, but so far without results, apart from small exports to Jordan, and possibly Egypt, but not to global markets.

The giant gas-field Leviathan is expected to come on-stream by end-2019, with as much as 9-10 billion cubic metres/yr (bcm/yr) surplus gas available for export. Noble Energy and its partners have been considering all options to secure international buyers for this, but unsuccessfully.

The main challenge is commercial. Gas prices are low globally and even though they may rise after 2025, they are still expected to be at levels that challenge exports of gas from the East Med. For example, gas prices in Europe are currently just over $3/mmbtu (per about 1000 cubic feet) and are forecast to average $6-$6.50/mmbtu between 2020-2030. Political will is not sufficient to overcome price limitations, despite all the hype, either in Israel or in Cyprus.

East Med gas is mostly in deep water and deep reservoirs. This makes it expensive to develop. The lack of regional infrastructure also impacts the cost of exporting such gas.

Egypt’s Offshore Red Sea Oil & Gas exploration Bid Round closes today - ENERGY EGYPT

SEPTEMBER 15, 2019 AT 1:57 PM

The Red Sea oil and gas exploration tender ends today, with bids from major oil producers expected to be announced later. Shell, ExxonMobil, Statoil, Dragon Oil, Russian Rosneft and Total have all reportedly bidding for 10 oil and gas exploration blocks off the Red Sea coast under a new production sharing contract, which were tendered back in March by the South Valley Egyptian Petroleum Holding Company (Ganope), sources told Egypt Today on Thursday.

Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, represented by South Valley Egyptian Petroleum Holding Company (Ganope), will close receiving tenders for the 2019 international bidding in the Red Sea on Sunday, Sept. 15 before noon.

Sources at the petroleum sector told Egypt Today that companies applying to the tender included Shell, ExxonMobil, Statoil, Dragon Oil, Russian Rosneft and Total France.

Egypt’s position as regional gas export hub for East Med gets US support - ENTERPRISE

Sunday, 15 September 2019

Egypt’s position as regional gas export hub for East Med gets US support: US Deputy Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette met with Oil Minister Tarek El Molla on Thursday in Cairo to discuss moving forward with the US-Egypt Strategic Energy Dialogue — a bilateral cooperation initiative aimed at strengthening Egypt’s energy production, storage and distribution capacity. The project, which came out of an MoU signed during US Secretary of Energy Rick Perry’s visit in July, seeks to capitalize on Egypt’s position as the regional gas export hub for the East Mediterranean Gas Forum countries and hopes to attract new energy investments, said Brouillette. Following the meeting, Brouillette held a roundtable with a select few news outlets, including Enterprise, to discuss the initiative and Egypt’s role in the region’s energy. The Wall Street Journal also had the story.