Is Turkey the market for East Med gas? - IN CYPRUS / CYPRUS WEEKLY

Charles Ellinas — 02/07/2016

Last December, soon after the downing of the Russian jet, a flurry of diplomatic activity started that has now produced a positive result enabling Israel and Turkey to resume diplomatic relations. A key factor in this is the potential for Israel to supply Turkey with gas.

In a parallel, but related, development Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent a letter of apology to Russia’s President Vladimir Putin for the shooting-down of the Russian jet, opening the way for rapprochement between the two countries. This too has energy implications.

Only a pipe dream - IN CYPRUS / CYPRUS WEEKLY

Annie Charalambous — 02/07/2016

Nicosia is not worried over speculation that a possible future pipeline transferring gas from Israel to Turkey could pass through Cyprus waters even without its consent.

“No, we are not concerned, this is not going to happen, we have the assurance of Israel and we also have legislation protecting Cyprus from such a possibility,” an insider told the Cyprus Weekly Thursday.

“UN provisions also give protection to Cyprus and let’s not forget that no serious energy company will go ahead with such an ambitious, incredibly costly project with legal inevitabilities pending.”

Nonetheless, analysts said this week that even though Israel has given assurances to Cyprus that rapprochement with Turkey will not affect Nicosia adversely; the pipeline project may be unstoppable.

Israeli gas may reach Turkey in three years, Israeli energy minister says - HURRIYET DAILY NEWS

July/01/2016
Merve Erdil - ISTANBUL

As Turkey and Israel move to restore their relationship after six years of strained ties, both sides are looking forward to the opportunity to transfer Israel’s natural gas to Turkey, a move which could happen as early as 2019, according to Israeli Energy and Natural Resources Minister Yuval Steinitz.

“I think that it is quite likely that Israel will export natural gas to Turkey. And maybe also in the future we will export natural gas to Europe through the Turkish gas transmission system that is now under construction. I think it is good for Turkey. It is good for Israel,” Steinitz told daily Hürriyet over the phone on June 29.

Turkey and Israel reached an agreement earlier this week that will allow the two countries to restore full diplomatic relations, which broke off in 2010 after Israeli forces raided a convoy of aid ships attempting to break the blockade of Gaza, killing nine Turkish activists.

Egypt may return to gas exports after super-giant Zohr discovery - WORLD OIL

Credit: McKinsey Energy Insights

By ANNA SHIRYAEVSKAYA on 6/30/2016

LONDON (Bloomberg) -- Egypt may resume natural gas exports thanks to major discoveries off its shores, according to Snam SpA, Europe’s biggest gas infrastructure company.

The findings are “very significant for North Africa” and especially Egypt, the most populous Arab nation, where demand for gas is rising for electricity generation, said Marco Alvera, the CEO of Milan-based Snam. Italian oil company Eni SpA called the super-giant Zohr field it discovered last year the largest in the Mediterranean. Eni and BP also made a “significant” find this year in the Nile Delta.

“Certainly Zohr is a game changer,” Alvera said in an interview at Bloomberg’s offices in London. “It allows Egypt to fulfill all its needs, which are great and significant,” as well as resume exports, he said.

Turkey starts repairing relations with Moscow - NATURAL GAS EUROPE

June 29th, 2016

A letter from Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, may help to restore relations between the two countries. They have been frosty since last November, after the Turkish air force shot down a Russian jet over Turkey's borders, killing the pilot.

The contents of the letter have not been made clear but the Turkish presidency stopped short of apologising – a key condition for ending hostilities – according to Erdogan's spokesman, Ibrahim Kalin. However, he said there was a sentence expressing sympathy for the relatives of Russian pilot.

From the other side, Putin's spokesman Dmitri Peskov reportedly said June 28 that Erdogan spoke of his deep regret for what happened and said he wanted to restore relations.

Egypt seeks third FSRU - NATURAL GAS AFRICA

June 29th, 2016

Egypt is reported to have launched a tender for a third floating LNG import terminal to meet anticipated growth in demand from power plants.

Daily News Egypt on June 26 quoted the petroleum minister, Tarek El-Molla, saying that a tender for the charter of a third floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) would be issued this week; he told the news service that the vessel would have a regasification capacity of 750mn ft³/d.

Reuters on June 29 reported that the tender was launched June 28, with offers from companies due within two weeks, citing an official from state-run gas company Egas. NGA was unable to get confirmation direct from Egas or shipowners.

Gas execs see Israel-Turkey gas deal by 2017 - GLOBES

28/06/2016, 06:54
Hedy Cohen

Experts believe Jerusalem will export 8-10 BCM to Turkey annually by 2020; official negotiations will begin soon.

The rapprochement agreement between Israel and Turkey presented Monday – and expected to be signed Tuesday – will also likely lead to the signing of a gas export deal by the end of next year, according to executives in the Leviathan partnership. The partners revealed they have opened talks with a consortium of 15 Turkish energy companies which expressed interest in half of the available reservoir.

The gas could also flow on from Turkey to Europe – which no longer wishes to rely on Russian gas. Both Israeli and Turkish sources believe Europe will import 8-10 BCM annually starting in 2020.

Concerns over impact of Turkish-Israeli deal on Cyprus - CYPRUS MAIL

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Nicos
Anastasiades during the Israeli leader's visit in July 2015

JUNE 28TH, 2016 
ELIAS HAZOU

The normalisation of Turkish-Israeli political and diplomatic ties, possibly paving the way for lucrative Mediterranean gas deals, could impact Cyprus, although in what way is not yet clear, an energy analyst has told the Cyprus Mail.

In one way it could prompt Turkey to aid a settlement to the Cyprus issue. On the other hand, both countries could sideline Cyprus altogether.

Egypt to develop 5 new Oil and Gas fields from Q3 of 2017 to 2019 - ECOFIN AGENCY

Monday, 27 June 2016 - 07:32

(Ecofin Agency) - The Government of Egypt has put measures in place to commence the development of five new oil and gas fields from Q3 of 2017 till 2019.

The five fields are Taurus, Libra, Giza, Fayoum, and Raven, an official source revealed.

According to this source, the Q3 of 2017 will also see BP restarting all the production and developmental activities in the North Alexandria oil field, which has been stagnant since 2011 as a result of Egypt’s political and economic situations.

Zorlu Enerji, Turcas Petrol shares jump following Turkey, Israel signing deal - DAILY SABAH

Zorlu Group’s third energy facility in Israel is the 120-megawatt
Ramat Negev natural gas power plant (start.ops on Dec 31, 2015)

June 27, 2016

Following an agreement signed over the weekend between Turkey and Israel regarding the normalization of bilateral relations, the shares of Zorlu Enerji, carrying out business operations in Israel, and Turcas Petrol, interested in purchasing natural gas from Israel, saw considerable rises on Borsa Istanbul, increasing by 11.9 percent to TL 1.91 ($0.65) per share and by 2.11 percent to TL 1.45 per share, respectively.

Turkish and Israeli delegations met in Rome over the weekend to finalize the reconciliation deal between the two countries, and after six years of diplomatic struggle, Ankara succeeded in receiving an apology from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, compensation for the Mavi Marmara raid victims and the lifting of the Gaza blockade. As Turkey-Israel relations were officially normalized with this agreement, investors set their eyes on Zorlu Enerji and Turcas Petrol, both of which have business ties in Israel.

Ministry of Petroleum negotiates supply of 12 LNG shipments with foreign companies - DAILY NEWS EGYPT

Two additional shipments will be imported monthly during H2 of 2016, says El Molla.

Mohamed Adel, 27-6-2016

The Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources is negotiating with foreign companies to cover the domestic market’s fuel needs. The ministry previously signed contracts with these companies to import 12 additional shipments of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in July by the end of 2016.

Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El Molla told Daily News Egypt that they are negotiating with the companies to supply two additional shipments of LNG monthly during the second half of 2016.

Gazprom open for dialogue with Turkey on Turkish Stream gas pipeline project - TASS

Headquarters of Gazprom© AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko

June 27, 18:56 UTC+3

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has offered his apologies to Russian President Vladimir Putin for the death of the pilot of the downed Russian plane

MOSCOW, June 27. /TASS/. Russia’s top gas producer Gazprom is ready for a dialogue on a potential resumption of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline project, the company’s official representative Sergey Kupriyanov told TASS Monday.

"Gazprom is and has always been open for a dialogue on the Turkish Stream," he said when commenting reports on potential rebuilding of relations with Turkey.

Shell plans drilling of 33 wells in BAPETCO concessions in 2016/2017 - 4-TRADERS / ENERGY EGYPT

June 26, 2016

Dutch company Shell targets drilling 33 wells in its concession areas that are operated by Badr El Din Petroleum Company (BAPETCO) during the next fiscal year (FY).

The plan includes 19 wells to develop gas production, 10 wells to inject water into, and 4 wells to explore for gas.

A senior source in the petroleum sector told Daily News Egypt that Shell has reduced the number of wells to explore for gas in its concession areas to four wells in its plan for FY 2016/2017, compared to seven wells during the current FY 2015/2016.

Shell drilled 25 developmental wells, 7 exploratory wells in its concession areas through BAPETCO during the current FY, and tied the production upon completing the drilling process according to the approved plan, he explained.

Israel's Harel in talks with Noble to buy stake in Tamar gas field - REUTERS

Sun Jun 26, 2016 2:58am EDT

Israel's Harel Insurance Investments and Financial Services (HARL.TA) said on Sunday it is in talks to buy up to 4 percent in the Tamar natural gas field from Texas-based Noble Energy (NBL.N).

Tamar was discovered in the eastern Mediterranean in 2009 with reserves of 10 trillion cubic feet. It began production in 2013 and is now Israel's primary gas supply.

A final agreement has yet to be reached, Harel said in a statement to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, and any deal would require regulatory approval.

Noble was not commenting, said a spokeswoman in Israel.