Cypriot Energy Minister Announcing the Glaucus 5-8 tcf discovery - LINKED-IN

28 February 2019 

Georgios Lakkotrypis, Minister of Energy, Commerce, Industry & Tourism at Government of Cyprus:

"@ExxonMobil & @QatarPetroleum make a world-class discovery offshore #Cyprus at #Glaucus. A high-quality reservoir 5-8 TCF of #NatGas is added to the country’s reserves. It demonstrates the emergence of the Republic‘s #EEZ as an alternative indigenous source of supply to the #EU."

Mediterranean Gas Bounty Suddenly Seems Within Big Oil’s Reach - THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

March 13, 2018 5:23 p.m. ET
Rory Jones in Tel Aviv,Sarah Kent in London and Bradley Olson in Houston

Activity follows years of work by U.S. diplomats to harmonize economies of once-hostile nations such as Israel, Egypt and Jordan

Big oil companies are pushing into Mediterranean waters off Israel, Lebanon and Egypt after years of U.S. diplomacy helped break open a political logjam around giant Middle Eastern natural-gas discoveries.

Exxon Mobil Corp. XOM -0.94% , Royal Dutch Shell RDS.B -0.81% PLC,Total SA TOT 0.33% of France and others are planning to invest in exports and exploration in the Eastern Mediterranean. Their prospects were buoyed by a landmark contract last month between U.S., Israeli and Egyptian firms that breathed new life into the regional market.

Shell is in talks with investors in natural-gas fields off Israel and Cyprus to supply its Egyptian liquefaction facility, according to people familiar with the matter. If the deal advances, it would allow Israel to quickly export some of the extensive reserves of natural gas found in the Mediterranean Sea west of Haifa.

Italy’s Eni E 0.59% SpA and Total last month announced a new discovery off Cyprus. The two oil giants are also working together to explore in disputed waters off Lebanon. Exxon, too, is set to explore nearby.

Nigeria To Play A Major Role In Turkey’s Energy Sector - OILPRICE.com

Jul 29, 2017, 10:00 AM CDT

Shadow Governance Intel

Nigeria is one of Turkey’s largest trading partners in Africa, and trade remains an integral component of Nigeria – Turkey bilateral relations. In 2014, trade between the two countries reached approximately US $2.5 billion. However, this figure fell to US $1.5 billion in 2015 and approximately US $1 billion in 2016, largely due to a drop in global oil and gas prices.

Over the past several decades, Nigeria has become one of Turkey’s most important providers of liquid natural gas (LNG), currently accounting for more than 20 percent of LNG imports. However, this trade relationship has the potential to develop and expand as the global LNG market flourishes, and both the Turkish and Nigerian governments invest in furthering their domestic LNG sectors.

Naftogaz increases oil and condensate production in Egypt by 20.7% in 2015 - INTERFAX

18:19, 07.10.2016

Naftogaz Ukrainy in 2015 increased production of oil and condensate by 20.7% compared to 2014, to 318,000 tonnes (2.33 million barrels).

According to a company consolidated report, posted on its website, commercial gas production was 192 million cubic meters, which is 4.8 times more than in 2014.

In general, since the launch of the project in Egypt in 2009 a total of 1.046 million tonnes of oil (7.686 million barrels) and 243 million cubic meters of gas was extracted, 49 wells were drilled, of which 37 were productive.

As of January 1, 2015 Ryder Scott had conducted an independent evaluation of hydrocarbon reserves/resources of the Naftogaz branch in Egypt, according to which total recoverable reserves (proven and probable - 2P) amounted to 1.132 million tonnes of oil (8.2 million barrels) and 599.6 million cubic meters of gas.

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.

Huge East Med gas reserves are focus of int'l interest - GLOBES

24/08/2016, 18:29
Nadav Shetreet

Cyprus, Lebanon, Egypt, and Israel are issuing a new series of natural gas exploration licenses.
The major natural gas reservoirs that have been discovered off the Mediterranean shores in recent years have made the region a focus of international interest. The past few months have been especially lively, with Lebanon, Egypt, Cyprus, and Israel simultaneously issuing new exploration licenses.

The American Geosciences Institute estimated in 2010 that the Eastern Mediterranean basin, which includes the territorial waters of Israel, the Gaza Strip, Lebanon, Syria, and Cyprus, has 3,450 BCM of natural gas and 1.7 billion barrels of oil. These reserves are likely to have substantial economic and environmental consequences. The discovery of these reservoirs in the their territory has given countries that were previously dependent on energy imports an opportunity to develop gas fields, achieve energy independence, and earn money by exporting gas to other countries.

Zohr gas reserves increase to 32tn cubic feet: EGAS - DAILY NEWS EGYPT

July 11, 2016, Mohamed Adel 
Indicators for the second well revealed larger reserves; six wells to be drilled in total at a cost of $100m each
The primary indicators of Zohr field’s second well, developed by Italian company Eni, show an increase in gas reserves owing to the discovery of a gas-carrying layer that is larger than that found in the first well.

These results indicate an increase in production to 250m cubic feet per day compared to the initial test results of 150m cubic feet in the concession area of Egypt’s territorial waters in the Mediterranean Sea.

Delek defends Leviathan gas reserve potential - UPI

File photo by Maryam Rahmanian/UPI | License Photo

Government estimates came in at about 20 percent less than drilling partners predicted.
By Daniel J. Graeber | June 8, 2016 at 8:25 AM

Partners aiming to exploit the
Leviathan gas field off the Israeli coast defend the field potential amid a government estimate lower than drillers expected.

TEL AVIV, Israel, June 8 (UPI) -- Partners aiming to develop the Leviathan gas field off the coast of Israel said they can exploit the full potential amid questions about reserve estimates.

Delek Group and its partners steering development plans for the Leviathan gas field, considered one of the largest in the world, said they're working on a plan to develop a maximum 741.6 billion cubic feet of natural gas per year.

Talk of Egypt gas deal merely ‘lip service’ - CYPRUS MAIL

May 10, 2016

With oil and gas prices suppressed for the foreseeable future and with Egypt – touted as the premier market for Cypriot natural gas – set to ramp up its own energy production in the near term, Cyprus needs to fast rethink its whole gas export policy, an energy analyst has told the Cyprus Mail.

“If we’re serious about selling our gas, then we have to look at other areas,” said Charles Ellinas, commenting on latest developments in Egypt.

The neighbouring country is poised to become energy self-sufficient over the next few years as multiple gas projects there come on stream.

Recently Egypt renegotiated higher gas prices, of up to $5.88 per mmbtu (million British thermal units), prompting gas companies to fast-track project development.
Ellinas cited a presentation given last week by Egyptian Minister of Petroleum & Mineral Resources Tarek El Molla at the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston.

Correction: Zohr’s Recoverable Reserves are 26 Tcf - EGYPT OIL & GAS

Sunday, 24th January 2016

Eng. Mohamed Al Masry, Chairman of EGPC has estimated that between 23 and 26 tcf of gas (reserves) are expected to be extracted from Eni’s gas field, Zohr, noting that drilling will start at the beginning of 2017.

According to Amwal Al Ghad, Eni started drilling 20 wells in December of 2016, at an investment cost of $12b.

Egypt’s current natural gas reserves are estimated at 57.04 tcf, according to EGPC sources.

It is important to note that the original version of this news piece featured an incorrect estimate.

SOURCE

Zohr’s Recoverable Reserves are Half Original Estimates | Daily News Egypt

Thursday, 21st January 2016

Eni’s mega gas discovery in Egypt’s Mediterranean area, Zohr, contains only 16 tcf of recoverable reserves, as opposed to the originally announced reserves of 30 tcf, an official at EGPC told Egypt Oil & Gas.

In November of 2015, Mohamed Al Masry, Chairman of EGPC has stated that between 22 and 26 tcf of gas are expected to be extracted from the field, noting that drilling will start at the beginning of 2017.

According to Amwal Al Ghad, Eni started drilling 20 wells in December of 2016, at an investment cost of $12b.

Iraq's Kurds to Start Natural Gas Exports to Turkey in 2019-2020 | Bloomberg

Nayla Razzouk, January 15, 2016

• Gas exports to be doubled later, cost of link not finalized 
• Kurdish region holds 3 percent of world's total gas reserves 

Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region plans to start exporting 10 billion cubic meters a year of natural gas to Turkey by 2019-2020, according to an official at the Kurdistan Regional Government’s Ministry of Natural Resources.

The KRG will double gas exports to 20 billion cubic meters a year by the early 2020s, the official said in an e-mailed statement on Friday. He was clarifying remarks made on Thursday by Bewar Al-Khinsi, economic security adviser at the KRG’s Kurdistan Protection Agency, who had said gas exports will start by the end of 2016.

Cash-Strapped Iraqi Kurds to Start Gas Exports to Turkey in 2016 | Bloomberg

Khalid Al Ansary Bruce Stanley, January 13, 2016

• Pipeline to start shipping natural gas to Turkey by year end
• Kurdish gas to give Turkey alternative to imports from Russia

Iraq’s Kurds will start building their first natural gas pipeline next month to export the fuel to Turkey, a project that would bring the self-governed region closer to economic independence.

The link will transport gas from the Khor Mor and Chamchamal fields in northern Iraq’s Kurdish enclave, first to Turkey and later to Europe, Bewar Al-Khinsi, an economic adviser to the Kurdistan Regional Government, said in a phone interview. The KRG will begin shipping 10 billion cubic meters a year by the end of 2016 and double the volume to 20 billion by 2020, he said.

“The pipeline will be a source of revenue for the KRG and a step to help Turkey overcome a gas crisis that may arise” as a result of Turkey’s soured relations with Russia, an important gas supplier to the Turks, he said.

The KRG is struggling to pay its bills, including money owed to foreign energy companies including DNO ASA and Genel Energy Plc. A 35 percent collapse last year in the price of Brent crude is adding to strain on KRG finances at a time when the regional government must also pay the cost of fighting against Islamic State militants that control parts of northern Iraq. The country’s Kurds have long chafed against control by Arab-led governments in Baghdad, and gas exports would enhance their financial self-sufficiency.

Kurdish Reserves

The Kurdish region could hold as much as 200 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves, or about 3 percent of the world’s total deposits, according to the website of the KRG Ministry of Natural Resources. It also holds 45 billion barrels of crude oil reserves -- equivalent to almost a third of the deposits in the rest of Iraq, according to BP Plc data. Turkey offers the sole route to market the expanding Kurdish oil industry.

Turkey will help pay for the 831-kilometer network, which will run parallel to an existing oil pipeline, and Ankara-based Botas Boru Hatlari Ile Petrol Tasima AS will build it, Al-Khinsi said. The 181-kilometer section inside Kurdish territory will cost an estimated $750 million, he said. The project is the result of an agreement that the KRG and Turkey reached in 2013 to build two pipelines, one for oil and another for gas.

Dana Gas PJSC, a United Arab Emirates-based energy company operating in Kurdish Iraq, holds a 40 percent stake in both the Khor Mor and Chamchamal fields through its Pearl Petroleum Co. venture, according to Dana Gas’s website. All gas produced in the Kurdish region is currently sold locally, and the company wants eventually to sell fuel to Turkey and Europe, Dana Gas Chief Executive Officer Patrick Allman-Ward said Tuesday in Abu Dhabi.

SOURCE

Israel's Leviathan gas reserves estimate raised by 16 pct | Reuters

Israel's Leviathan gas reserves estimate raised by 16 pct

Sun, Jul 13 05:04 AM EDT

JERUSALEM, July 13 (Reuters) - The estimated size of natural gas reserves in Israel's Leviathan field has been lifted by 16 percent, partners in the field said on Sunday.

Leviathan, discovered in 2010 off Israel's Mediterranean coast, is the world's largest offshore gas find in the past decade and is expected to provide the country with greater energy independence. Production is slated to begin in 2017.

Based on updated analysis by consultant Netherland Sewall & Associates (NSAI), the reserves estimate was increased to 21.93 trillion cubic feet (620 billion cubic metres) from 18.91 tcf.

The high estimate was raised by 10 percent to 26.52 tcf, while the low estimate was increased by 11 percent to 16.58 tcf.

NSAI estimates that the field holds 39.4 million barrels of condensate, up from 34.1 million.

The increases follows expansion of Leviathan's database, including 3D seismic surveys and laboratory analysis.

Texas-based Noble Energy is the field's operator with a 39.66 percent stake. Avner Oil and Delek Drilling - subsidiaries of Delek Group - hold a combined 45.34 percent and Ratio Oil has the remaining 15 percent.

Delek Drilling said the higher reserves ensure Israel's energy independence for decades to come.

"The dramatic increase in Leviathan's gas reserves gives a wide range of export options and bases Israel's position as a leading player in the international energy map with gas reserves of 1,000 billion cubic metres (bcm)," Delek Drilling CEO Yossi Abu said.

Along with Leviathan's 620 bcm, the Tamar field - which started production last year - has 303 bcm, while two smaller sites hold 58 bcm.

Israel's government has decided to allow exports of up to 40 percent of the gas reserves.

Last month, the partners in Leviathan said they had signed a preliminary agreement with British oil and gas company BG Group to negotiate a deal to export gas to BG's liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in Idku, Egypt. (Reporting by Steven Scheer; Editing by David Goodman)

Link to source: http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSL6N0PO08Q20140713?irpc=932