Hellenic Petroleum, Energean get Greek onshore gas blocks - SIGMA LIVE / REUTERS

05.02.2016

Greece has awarded concessions to Hellenic Petroleum and Energean Oil & Gas for onshore gas exploration and exploitation in three fields in the west of the country, Energy Ministry Panos Skourletis said on Thursday.

Hellenic Petroleum, Greece's biggest oil refiner, won two of the concessions and the country's sole oil producer Energean Oil & Gas one, the ministry said in a statement.

In a separate statement, Hellenic Petroleum said that it was willing to team up with other oil companies in the gas drilling business.

"We start independently but we are open to cooperations and proposals that will be based on and respect the business rules of the world industry," its CEO Grigoris Stergioulis said.

East Med Overview: Regional Cooperation - NATURAL GAS EUROPE

February 05th, 2016

Israel, Cyprus and Greece discuss regional cooperation

Following a trilateral summit in Nicosia to discuss energy issues in the region, the prime ministers of Israel, Cyprus and Greece announced they were considering a project to build a pipeline that would link the eastern Mediterranean region to Europe.

The project, criticised by some energy experts as unfeasible for commercial and political reason, indicates nevertheless a regional diplomatic effort to strengthen energy ties and the security of energy supply. Europe has been looking to diversify its gas supplies.

The summit stressed the importance of natural gas in building a solid foundation for cooperation in the region. The leaders agreed that natural gas could be a catalyst for peace in the region, namely for achieving a solution to the division of Cyprus.

Hydrocarbons companies urge Cyprus to draft a comprehensive strategy - CYPRUS MAIL

FEBRUARY 5, 2016 George Psyllides

The hydrocarbon association on Friday urged officials to draft a comprehensive strategy without delay to secure the uninterrupted continuation of natural gas and oil companies’ operation in Cyprus.

The appeal came as Larnaca municipality ponders whether to grant a six-month extension to a company that provides logistics for oil and gas exploration.

The issue was scheduled for discussion last Monday but it was postponed and rescheduled for this coming Monday, February 8.

Residents oppose the presence of the companies at the port, saying they did not want Larnaca to be an industrial town.

Is Turkey now Egypt’s rival for East Med gas? - INTERFAX

Rachel Williamson, 4 February 2016

East Mediterranean gas developers may end up prioritising exports to Turkey over other options, despite an agreement struck last week between Greece, Cyprus and Israel to look into the feasibility of a pipeline to Europe.

Alongside talk of a pipeline to Greece, much has been made of the possibility of exporting either Cypriot or Israeli gas to Egypt – either for domestic use or for further export as LNG. However, that option is beginning to look less favourable because of production timelines and the cost of transporting the gas. Consequently, momentum is now moving towards gas exports to Turkey.

Charles Ellinas, (note: former) chief executive of Cyprus National Hydrocarbons Co., told Natural Gas Daily that normalisation talks between Israel and Turkey were progressing and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was driving that process alongside Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Italy eyes energy projects in Egypt - ENERGY EGYPT / DAILY NEWS EGYPT

February 4, 2016

Italian Minister of Economy Federica Guidi previously said Egypt is keen on attracting Italian investments

Italy has agreed to upgrade Egypt’s Middle East Oil Refinery (MIDOR), participate in building a complex for petrochemical industries in Ain Sokhna, and update a number of combined-cycle power plants.

The projects are also expected to increase energy efficiency, Head of the Cairo’s Egyptian-Italian Business Council Khaled Abu Bakr said in statements on Wednesday, state-run news agency MENA reported.

Eni and EGPC establish JV for ‘super giant’ gas field - OIL REVIEW MIDDLE EAST

04 February 2016

Eni and Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) have announced to enter into a joint venture to create Petro Shorouk

Petro Shorouk will be a subsidiary of Petrobel and will be tasked to complete the first stage of development of the Zohr gas field by the end of 2017, according to Daily News Egypt reports. The drill ship Saipem 10000 arrived at the field in late December to begin the process of drilling at the Zohr-2 Well.

Petrobel currently has a production rate of 112,000 bpd of crude oil and condensate, and 25mn cu/m per day of natural gas. Production of the gas field is expected to be 72.7mn cu/m per day of gas by 2019.

The Zohr gas field, the biggest in the Mediterranean and located in Shorouk concession, was discovered by Eni in August 2015.

Greece solved all issues for receiving Azerbaijani gas - TREND NEWS AGENCY

3 FEBRUARY 2016Maksim Tsurkov, Baku, Azerbaijan

Greece has solved all issues necessary for receiving Azerbaijani gas via the Southern Gas Corridor, said Nikos Kotzias, Greek foreign minister, at a meeting with Azerbaijani Energy Minister Natig Aliyev.

Aliyev, for his part, said the smooth implementation of the Southern Gas Corridor project is very important for the development of energy cooperation between Greece and Azerbaijan, the Energy Ministry of Azerbaijan said in a message Feb. 3.

“Some 50 percent of the work on the Shah Deniz 2 project has been completed,” added Aliyev. “Eight of 26 planned production wells have been drilled.”

Anastasiades seeking joint decision on energy - IN-CYPRUS

Kerry (FM, USA) w/ Anastasiades (President, CYPRUS)

2/2/2015

President Nicos Anastasiades will be seeking a joint decision which would also involve all the political parties with regards to Cyprus’ next move in the field of energy.

According to reports in Phileleftheros on Tuesday, President Anastasiades informed the party leaders during Monday’s National Council that he had held high-level talks with several energy and gas firms during his recent trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos adding that the next move will be crucial.

Greek oil producer Energean undaunted by price dip, CEO Says - KATHIMERINI / BLOOMBERG

2/2/2016, PAUL TUGWELL

Energean Oil & Gas, Greece’s only hydrocarbon producer, will seek financing from the nation’s lenders to boost domestic production and expand internationally despite low crude prices, Chief Executive Officer Mathios Rigas said.

Energean has begun a $200 million investment plan for 2015-2018 aimed at raising production at the Prinos basin in the north Aegean Sea to 10,000 barrels a day by the end of 2017 from 3,000 today, Rigas said in an interview in Athens. The company is seeking support from local lenders, with a foreign bank taking the lead, he said.

“Energean is continuing to invest despite the ongoing problems in Greece and the low oil price operating environment,”

US keen on pentad energy alliance - IN-CYPRUS

01/02/2016

Washington has begun lobbying several counties in the Eastern Mediterranean – including Cyprus – in a bid to persuade them to create a pentad energy pact that would include Turkey.

According to reports in Phileleftheros on Monday, the US is interested in not only getting behind Cyprus, Israel, Egypt and Greece to push ahead with joint plans to exploit energy in the region but are also keen to involve Turkey into the bargain.

Apart from the opportunity to create much-needed stability in the region, the US is also keen to see a pipeline linked to Turkey that would transport natural gas. One government source says “solving the Cyprus problem will go a long towards achieving such a goal”.

Until Egypt has access to enough gas, it will suffer economically - THE DAILY STAR

Feb. 01, 2016

Brendan Meighan| The Daily Star

One of the most pressing crises facing the Egyptian economy has been the severe shortage of natural gas. The crisis itself – which involves supply cuts to factories and frequent electrical outages – has received copious coverage in the domestic and international press and has tested the patience of the Egyptian people and the business community. However, during the first week of November, officials at the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) announced that Egyptian heavy industry was now being supplied with all of its needed natural gas and other fuels. Officials from a number of companies and trade organizations confirmed this on Dec. 2. There has also been an absence of reports of power cuts in major residential areas. Unfortunately for Egypt, this may simply be the result of a lull in demand due to moderate weather and slower production from heavy industry, not a permanent end to the shortages.

Engagement in an Agreement for the Supply of Natural Gas from the Leviathan Project to Edeltech - DELEK GROUP

Tel Aviv, January 31, 2016.

Delek Group (TASE: DLEKG, US ADR: DGRLY) (“the Company”) announces that attached is an Immediate Report submitted by each of Avner Oil Exploration Limited Partnership and Delek Drilling Limited Partnership ("the Partnerships") with regard to an agreement that was signed for the supply of natural gas between the Partnerships and the other Leviathan Partners and Edeltech Ltd.

Further to the provisions of the Partnerships’ immediate reports of January 7, 2016 regarding the holding of talks and/or negotiations of the partners in the Leviathan project, including the Partnership (the “Leviathan Partners”) for the marketing of natural gas to potential consumers in the local market, the Partnerships hereby respectfully announce as follows:

On Saturday evening, January 30, 2016, an agreement was signed for the supply of natural gas between the Partnerships and the other Leviathan Partners and Edeltech Ltd. (“Edeltech” or the “Buyer”), whereby Edeltech will buy from the Leviathan Partners natural gas for the purpose of operating power plants which it is due to build, together with its Turkish partner Zorlu, in Ashdod and Mishor Rotem (the “Supply Agreement”).

According to the Supply Agreement, the Leviathan Partners undertook to supply to the Buyer natural gas at a total scope of approx. 6 BCM (billion cubic meters) (the “Total Contractual Quantity”), in accordance with the terms and conditions specified in the Supply Agreement.

Birth of a Geopolitical Bloc: The Israel-Greece-Cyprus Axis - HAARETZ

Cypriot president Nicos Anastasides, center, Greek Prime Minister
Alexis Tsipras, left, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
after their meeting in Nicosia, Cyprus, January 28, 2016. AP

The proximate cause may be natural gas, but the ultimate cause of the new alignment is Turkey.

Arye Mekel Jan 31, 2016 4:51 AM

Last week saw an unprecedented flurry of diplomatic activity that culminated with a summit of the Israeli, Greek and Cypriot leaders in Nicosia. For Israel, this is a win-win development, creating a new geopolitical bloc in the eastern Mediterranean in which closer relations with Greece and Cyprus counterbalance Turkey to some extent. It also has some military and security significance.

Trident Petroleum signs exploration agreement for Northwest Seabird concession in the Gulf of Suez - ENERGY EGYPT

January 31, 2016

Eng. Tarek El-Molla, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, signed a new oil and gas exploration agreement in the Gulf of Suez, between Ganoub El Wadi Petroleum Holding Co (Ganope) and Egypt’s Trident Petroleum Company. The exploration agreement for Block 6 Northwest Seabird (Tair al-Bahr) concession in the Gulf of Suez, covering a ​​191 square kilometer area, specifies a minimum investment obligation of $4.5 million, the drilling of six exploratory wells and a signing bonus of $500,000.