Over 700 Pipes Delivered to Greece for TAP’s Construction - OGE / TREND NEWS

August 19, 2016

By Maksim Tsurkov – Trend

The Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) Consortium said Aug. 18 that more than 700 pipes have been additionally delivered to Greece’s Alexandroupolis for construction of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline.

In total, about 45,000 pipes will be used in the TAP’s construction.

TAP project envisages transportation of gas from Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz field to the EU.

The 870-kilometer pipeline will be connected to the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) on the Turkish-Greek border, run through Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea, before coming ashore in Italy's south.

Initial capacity of TAP will be 10 billion cubic meters of gas per year.

Energean's challenges in Israel's upstream - NATURAL GAS EUROPE

August 18th, 2016
Ya'acov Zalel

For Greek E&P company Energean, the $148.5mn acquisition of Karish and Tanin from Delek Group, is a big bet and a strategic turning point.

Energean is a small upstream company with operator's capabilities and no ambitions to become a global player in the energy sector. Its efforts are concentrated in Greece, the Balkans, Egypt and now in Israel's Karish and Tanin gas fields, the biggest undertaking in its history. Energean will be allowed to sell its Israeli output only in the Israeli market.The two fields together hold 60 bn m³ which are valued at about $10bn at a price of $5.00/mn Btu.

Energean’s point man and representative in Tel Aviv is Shaul Zemach, formerly the general manager of the energy ministry and famous for heading the Zemach Committee, which set gas export quotas.

With the acquisition of Karish and Tanin, Energean has undertaken its biggest ever challenge: a development of deep water natural gas resources. Energean has never carried out such a technically complicated and challenging project. However, as in any project of this kind the quality of the project is dependent also on the contractors' capabilities and experience. So Energean will have to choose experienced and trusted contractors.

NATO allies welcome Libyan progress - UPI

File photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | Licensed Photo

Five members of the alliance have expressed recent concern about the security of Libya's oil wealth.

By Daniel J. Graeber | Aug. 18, 2016 at 6:50 AM

TRIPOLI, Libya, Aug. 18 (UPI) -- Members of the NATO alliance said they welcomed Libyan investment board actions as a step toward ensuring authority over the nation's oil wealth.

The governments of France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States issued a joint statement welcoming the formation of an interim five-member steering committee for the Libyan Investment Authority.

Delek Drilling, Avner to sell Karish and Tanin fields to Energean - WORLD OIL

8/17/2016

ATHENS -- Delek Drilling and Avner Oil Exploration, part of Israel's leading integrated energy company, have signed a deal for the sale of 100% of their holdings in Karish and Tanin natural gas fields to Energean Oil & Gas.

Delek Group Press Release - Engagement in an Agreement for the Sale of all of the Rights in the Karish and Tanin

Energean Press Release 17.08.16 - Delek Drilling and Avner agree to sell Karish and Tanin Fields to Energean Oil & Gas

The deal, which is being undertaken as part of the implementation of the Gas Framework, set up by the Israeli government as part of their strategy to develop the energy market, is estimated to be valued at $148 million, which reflects return of Delek Drilling and Avner’s investment and future royalties from the expected sales of gas and condensate from the reservoirs.

Delek Sells Gas Fields to Greece’s Energean for $148.5 Million - BLOOMBERG

By Yaacov Benmeleh

August 17, 2016 — 10:12 AM EEST

• Delek, Noble to recieve 7.5% of future pre-tax revenue
• Companies have to sell fields to develop Leviathan reserve

Israel’s Delek Group Ltd. removed another regulatory hurdle to developing its prized Leviathan natural gas field after agreeing to sell two smaller reserves to Greece’s Energean Oil & Gas SA.

The Greek explorer will pay $148.5 million and 7.5 percent of future pretax revenue for the offshore Karish and Tanin fields, according to a Tel Aviv Stock Exchange filing late Tuesday. They hold approximately 85 billion cubic meters of natural gas, according to Delek Drilling, or about one-seventh the size of Leviathan, Israel’s largest gas find.

Egypt Discovery Transforms Petroleum Outlook in Eastern Mediterranean - CARNEGIE MEC

CAROLE NAKHLE, Op-Ed
August 16, 2016
The Lebanese Center for Policy Studies

Summary: Egypt is in a different league than its neighbors in the Eastern Mediterranean when it comes to oil and gas exploration.
When it comes to oil and gas exploration and production, Egypt is in a different league than its neighbors in the Eastern Mediterranean. Its oil activity spans more than one century and the country enjoys a colorful corporate landscape where large and small international companies and national companies cooperate and continue to make significant discoveries. From a regional perspective, having such a major competitor right at their own doorsteps presents challenges to countries like Lebanon, Cyprus, and Israel. But this does not necessarily signal a race to the bottom. On the contrary, it can lead to opportunities if cooperation is pursued.

Atwood Advantage wins Tamar drill contract - NATURAL GAS EUROPE

By Ya'acov Zalel, August 16th, 2016

The ultra-deepwater drillship Atwood Advantage is due to arrive at the Tamar gas field offshore Israel in a few months' time in order to drill a new well, Tamar 8.

The drillship belongs to Atwood Oceanics and is a relatively new vessel, able to drill in water depth of up to 3,567 m and drilling depth of up to 12,000 m. Its drilling equipment includes a double derrick, a hook load, a blow-out preventer, a marine raiser and mud pumps.

The drillship is expected at Tamar by November and the drilling is expected to last three to four months. The drilling will take place 100 km offshore, west of Haifa. Water depth at the drilling site is 1,670 m and the total drilling depth is planned for 5,050 m below sea level.

Israel's gas royalties hit new record - GLOBES

16/08/2016, 14:16
Globes correspondent

Royalties from gas and oil rose 12.8% in the first half of 2016, the Ministry of Energy reports.
The Ministry of National Infrastructures, Energy and Water Resources has reported a new NIS 411 million (96 million euro) record in revenues from fees and royalties related to natural gas, oil and minerals in the first half of 2016.

The lion's share of these revenues was due to natural gas and oil royalties, a total of NIS 394 million in the first half of 2016. NIS 392 million royalties were received for a 4.5 BCM natural gas output at the Tamar gas field. This constitutes an impressive 12.8% rise from the corresponding period last year.

Would Turkey's emergence as 'gas bazaar' be beneficial? - ANADOLU AGENCY

While Turkey's role as transit country for gas to Europe is significant, experts differ over benefits of being a gas bazaarANKARA, 16.08.2016

By Dilara Zengin & Ebru Sengul

Turkey's strategic role as an energy transit country could in the long term evolve to a regional gas hub, but the benefits of this status as a 'Turkish gas bazaar' is questionable, experts told Anadolu Agency.

Brenda Shaffer, adjunct professor at the Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies (CERES) at Georgetown University, said that Turkey at present is already a critical oil and natural gas transit state.

“The Bosphorus is one of the world’s most important oil transit lanes (and thus an important potential energy choke point). Oil from multiple sources, including Azerbaijan and Iraq, is exported via Turkey’s ports. Turkey receives natural gas today from four different projects spanning across Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran, and from 2018 it will receive gas from another project, with the establishment of Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP),” Shaffer explained.

Eni invests $4bn in Zohr gas production processing plant - DAILY NEWS EGYPT

Italian oil company Eni invested $3.5-4bn in implementing the Zohr natural gas production processing plant at a capacity of 2.7bn cubic feet of gas per day. Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El-Molla told Daily News Egypt that the total investments in Zohr field are estimated at $12bn until the point when production begins.

Mohamed Adel, August 15, 2016

Italian oil company Eni invested $3.5-4bn in implementing the Zohr natural gas production processing plant at a capacity of 2.7bn cubic feet of gas per day.

Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El-Molla told Daily News Egypt that the total investments in Zohr field are estimated at $12bn until the point when production begins. Investments will then increase to $16bn over the life of the field.

Israel worries over Lebanon behind offshore ban - NATURAL GAS EUROPE

By Ya'acov Zalel, August 15th, 2016

The fear of a clash with Lebanon is behind Israel's moratorium on gas exploration to the north of its exclusive economic zone (EEZ), according to a report in the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronot.

Israel and Lebanon have no diplomatic relations but there is a 1949 cease-fire agreement that is violated from time to time. Despite that, the US government in recent years has tried to settle the issue of the EEZ border, so far unsuccessfully.

The area in question is the Alon D block, west of Rosh Hanikra, the northernmost point of Israel on the Mediterranean. According to Israeli maps, most of the block's area is in Israel's EEZ and only a small area is in Lebanon's EEZ. Seismic surveys showed that the geological structures in the area are very similar to those of Leviathan and Tamar, suggesting a significant gas reservoir in the block but also the chance of the reservoir partly belonging to Lebanon. So Israel has not allowed its exploration.

Carl Icahn takeover talk boosts Delek US - GLOBES

Yitzhak Tshuva

14/08/2016, 14:18
Omri Cohen

A report in the "New York Post" citing an unidentified source said that CVR Energy is considering acquiring Delek US.

Carl Icahn's CVR Energy is interested in acquiring Delek US Holdings Inc. (NYSE:DK), controlled by Yitzhak Tshuva's Delek Group Ltd. (TASE:DLEKG) according to a report in the "New York Post," which cited an unidentified source close to the matter.

The report boosted Delek US's share price by 10.14% on Friday to $16.14, giving a market cap of $1.01 billion. The share has risen 31% since the start of August after falling 60% over the past year.

Delek US owns two refineries in Texas and Arkansas and 360 gas stations in seven US states as well as a 47.4% stake in Alon USA Energy Inc. (NYSE:ALJ).