Tshuva meets Cypriot president to discuss Aphrodite
The gas companies unveiled a plan for pipelines connecting the gas reservoir to Cyprus and Egypt.
Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades, currently visiting Israel for a series of meetings with President Reuven Rivlin and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, met last night with Delek Group Ltd. (TASE:DLEKG) controlling shareholder Yitzhak Tshuva in order to promote the development of the Aphrodite natural gas reservoir, located in Cypriot waters.
Located in Block 12, Aphrodite,which contains 4.54 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of natural gas and nine million barrels of natural gas condensate, is Cyprus's only gas reservoir. Aphrodite is owned byDelek Drilling Limited Partnership (TASE: DEDR.L) (15%), Avner Oil and Gas LP (TASE: AVNR.L) (15%), and Noble Energy (70%). Delek Group reported only two weeks ago that it was in preliminary negotiations to acquire 19.9% of Noble Energy's stake in the reservoir, and the partners last week submitted their development program for it to the Cypriot government.
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Under the development plan submitted, an independent floating production facility will be built in the area of the reservoir, to be connected to Cyprus and Egypt by pipeline. Egypt, being hungry for cheap energy, last February signed an energy cooperation agreement with the Cypriot government. The two countries estimated that within six months, a memorandum of intent would be signed by Egyptian national gas company Egas and Cypriot national gas company CHC.
The memorandum will not include the commercial terms for the agreement, such as the price of gas, but it will enable the parties to consider the technical aspects of the deal, for example how to transport the gas directly from Aphrodite to Egypt. The parties will also be able to discuss the possibility of liquefying the gas imported from Cyprus with third parties, for example British Gas and Union Fenosa.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on June 15, 2015
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2015
Source: http://www.globes.co.il/en/article.aspx?did=1001044983&from=iglobes
