Israel, Greece, Cyprus to hold second trilateral summit - JERUSALEM POST

12/03/2016 21:20
HERB KEINON

Meeting in Jerusalem comes less than a year after ‘strategic alliance’ announced in Nicosia.

Energy issues and emergency rescue cooperation will top the agenda when leaders of Israel, Greece and Cyprus meet this week in Jerusalem for their second trilateral summit in less than a year.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades will hold a one-day summit on Thursday. The three first met together in January in Nicosia in what was hailed as the formation of a new “strategic alliance” in the eastern Mediterranean.

Tsipras and Anastasiades will be accompanied by a number of their senior ministers. The three leaders are expected to issue a joint declaration after their meeting.

Five submit binding offers for use of Greece-Bulgaria gas link - REUTERS

Sat Dec 3, 2016 | 1:02pm ESTReporting by Angel Krasimirov; Editing by Toby Chopra

Five binding offers were submitted for the use of the natural gas pipeline between Bulgaria and Greece, the joint venture building the link said in a statement.

Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB), estimated to cost 220 million euros ($235 million), will transport gas with a total capacity of 4.3 billion cubic meters.

"The announced capacity within the second phase of the market test amounts to 2.7 billion cubic meters, 1.57 billion cubic meters of which are reserved," joint-venture ICGB said in the statement.

Israel's Navy Sub Scandal Widens; Iranian Ties And Deal-Making Questioned - FORBES

The German-made INS Rahav, the fifth Israeli Navy submarine, arrives at the military
port of Haifa on January 12, 2016. In September 2015, Israel received delivery of the
fourth Dolphin 2 class submarines from Germany. A third of the cost was funded by
Germany as part of its military aid to Israel. The submarines, the most sophisticated in
Israel's fleet, can be equipped with missiles armed with nuclear warheads.
(Photo JACK GUEZ/AFP/Getty Images)

DEC 2, 2016 @ 11:05 PM
Tim Daiss

In a convoluted development intersecting the energy sector and Middle Eastern geopolitics, media in Israel is reporting that Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit has ordered a police probe into allegations that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s personal lawyer, David Shimron, used his close relationship with the Israeli leader to influence him to award a $1 billion contract to build three navy submarines to ThyssenKrupp, a German multinational conglomerate with a 4.5% ownership stake held by the Iranian government.

The subs will be used to protect Israel’s massive offshore natural gas field in the Mediterranean. According to a report on Friday in The Times of Israel, Shimron was a representative of the company in Israel. The inquiry will also focus on a separate 2014 Defense Ministry tender for navy ships, also involving ThyssenKrupp.

Why Has Noble Energy Been in the News Recently? - MARKET REALIST

By Keisha Bandz | Dec 2, 2016 5:58 pm EST

What Is Noble Energy’s Outlook for 2017 and Beyond? 

Noble Energy’s long-term outlook
On November 16, 2016, Noble Energy (NBL) provided its long-term outlook from 2016–2020. It also provided an update on its US onshore operations.

The company’s November 16 press release noted that the outlook “includes a forward base plan utilizing $50 per barrel WTI and Brent and $3 per thousand cubic feet Henry Hub natural gas for 2017, with modest oil price acceleration through 2020. An upside plan is also provided which adds $10 per barrel in commodity price to all periods.”

Egypt accepts six bids for oil and gas exploration - REUTERS

Fri Dec 2, 2016 | 9:16am ESTReporting by Ehab Farouk; writing by Amina Ismail; editing by Susan Thomas

Egypt has accepted six bids for oil and gas exploration worth a total investment of up to $200 million, the Ministry of Petroleum said on Friday.

In May, the General Authority for Petroleum announced an international tender for 11 oil and natural gas blocks in the Western Desert and Gulf of Suez as Egypt looks to boost oil and gas production to meet growing energy demand.

Royal Dutch Shell, BP, Apache Corp and Apex International Energy are among the companies involved, the ministry said in a statement.

It said BP would invest at least $46 million, Apache at least $60.6 million and Shell at least $35.5 million.

Binding phase of market test for gas link Greece-Bulgaria gets five bids - SEE NEWS

Dugopolje-Split gas pipeline (by EVN)

December 2, 2016

SOFIA (Bulgaria) - Five offers were received on a long term basis for the binding phase of the market test for the gas interconnector Greece-Bulgaria, the company in charge of the project said on Friday.

"The announced capacity within the second phase of the market test amounts to 2.7 billion cu m, 1.57 billion cu m of which are reserved," ICGB said in a statement.

According to the procedure, the market test will be completed with the implementation of the advanced reservation capacity agreements by the companies which submitted the offers, upon approval of the relevant allocation by the national regulators of Greece and Bulgaria.

Apex International Energy awarded first blocks in Egypt - APEX INTERNATIONAL ENERGY

December 2, 2016
Minimum investment in two concessions of $27.4 million in first exploration phase
Cairo, Egypt and Houston, Texas (December 2, 2016)— Apex International Energy, an independent oil and gas exploration and production company focused on Egypt, is pleased to announce that it has been awarded Blocks 8 and 9 by the Egyptian General Petroleum Company (EGPC) from their 2016 Bid Round.

Block 8 and 9 are both located within the prolific Abu Gharadig Basin in Egypt’s Western Desert and cover 6,714 square kilometers (2,592 square miles or 1.7 million acres) in total.
Specific details are below:

Union for the Mediterranean's Ministerial Conference on Energy - EIN NEWS

Friday, December 2, 2016

Only a few days after the closing of the COP22 conference in Marrakech and concomitantly with the opening of the second edition of the Rome Med Dialogues, today the Farnesina is hosting the Ministerial Conference on Energy of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), with the participation of 43 Countries from the two shores of the Mediterranean sitting around the Mediterranean Table designed by Michelangelo Pistoletto.

The meeting, co-chaired by the European Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy, Miguel Arias Cañete, and Jordan’s Energy Minister, Ibrahim Saif, will engage ministers and diplomats in a discussion on revamping energy cooperation as a source of wellbeing for the whole Region.

Turkish parliament ratifies deal on building Turkish Stream gas pipeline - TASS

December 02, 9:12 UTC+3
Ruslan Shamukov/TASS

ANKARA, December 2. /TASS/. The parliament of Turkey has passed a bill on ratifying an intergovernmental agreement with Russia on constructing the Turkish Stream gas pipeline, the Milliyet daily reported on Friday.

A total of 210 lawmakers out of 223 were in favor of the ratification during the vote, which was held last night. On November 29, the parliament’s foreign relations commission also endorsed the bill.

The Russian authorities announced the Turkish Stream in December 2014 to replace the South Stream gas pipeline project. It was planned that the offshore section of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline would comprise four stretches with a capacity of 15.75 billion cubic meters each.

EastMed gas pipe viable, study shows - CYPRUS MAIL

DECEMBER 1ST, 2016
PHILIP MARK

The EastMed gas pipeline is both technically feasible and commercially viable, a preliminary study into the mooted project has determined.

The findings of a pre-feed study, carried out by project promoter IGI Poseidon and funded by the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), were reviewed on Thursday by the competent ministers of Cyprus, Greece and Italy on the sidelines of the Ministerial Meeting of the Union for the Mediterranean held in Rome.

“The ministers expressed their satisfaction for the fact that the study showed that the proposed pipeline is technically feasible and commercially viable” the press release added.

Leviathan partners sign $2b gas deal - GLOBES

1 Dec, 2016 11:10

Nati Yefet

The latest deal is with Or Energies, which will buy 8.8 billion cubic meters of gas over 20 years.

The Leviathan partners notified the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange this morning that they have signed a $2 billion deal to sell 8.8 billion cubic meters of gas to Or Energies over 20 years. The gas will be used to operate the power station that Or Energy plans to build.

The Leviathan partners Noble Energy Inc.(NYSE: NBL) (39.66%), Delek Group Ltd. (TASE:DLEKG) units Avner Oil and Gas LP (TASE:AVNR.L) and Delek Drilling LP (TASE: DEDR.L) (22.67% each) and Ratio Oil Exploration (1992) LP (TASE:RATI.L) (15%) recently announced that they had signed financing deals for the giant offshore gas field. The partners have also recently signed a range of deals to supply gas including to Paz Oil Company Ltd.(TASE:PZOL), Edeltech, the IPM power station in Beer Tuvia and the Jordanian electyricity company NEPCO.

Azeri SOCAR says DESFA deal failure won't affect investments in Greece - REUTERS

Thu Dec 1, 2016 | 10:05am ESTReporting by Nailia Bagirova; writing by Katya Golubkova; editing by Maria Kiselyova

Azeri state energy company SOCAR said on Thursday its failure to reach an agreement on buying a 66-percent stake in Greek gas grid operator DESFA would not affect its investment plans in Greece and the region.

The Greek Energy Ministry said on Wednesday SOCAR's proposal to reduce the price of the 400 million euro deal was unfeasible.

Gentiloni says energy can bring order back to Mediterranean - ANSA MED

Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni (R) and Minister of Economic
Development Carlo Calenda (L) at the opening of the UfM
Ministerial Conference on Energy in Rome

01 DECEMBER, 16:33

ROME - Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni opened the Union for the Mediterreanean (UfM) Ministerial Conference on Energy Thursday, and said that energy can help the region develop and find order.

"The awareness of the crises of the Mediterranean is evident, but there's also the chance to seize the opportunities for development, and energy is one of the greatest tools for weaving a story that brings an ordering principle back to our region," Gentiloni said.

He mentioned some of the current crises facing the Mediterranean area: "the particularly dramatic crisis in Syria, the terrorist threat, the migrant influxes that still aren't under control even if some in Europe perceive the opposite, following the March agreement with Turkey".

Leviathan partners sign $2 bln Israeli power plant natgas deal - REUTERS

Thu Dec 1, 2016 | 2:55am EST Reporting by Steven Scheer

The partners in the Leviathan natural gas field off Israel's coast said on Thursday they signed a deal worth about $2 billion to supply gas to Dalia Power Engines.

Under the deal, Dalia -- the largest private power plant in Israel -- will receive 8.8 billion cubic meters of gas for up to 20 years once production starts.

Oil Ministry postpones hiring third FSRU - ENTERPRISE

Thursday, 1 December 2016

The Oil Ministry has postponed commissioning a third FSRU, saying it has no need to increase natural gas imports for 2017, Oil Minister Tarek El Molla told Al Borsa. The FSRU was scheduled to arrive at the SUMED port in Ain Al Sokhna in June 2017. We reported earlier this week that EGAS has locked-in its 2017 gas needs through a “mega tender” that gave it 96 cargoes for delivery across 2017 and 2018 with the option to buy 12 additional cargoes this coming year.

Greece Will Not Sell Stake of Natural-Gas Operator to Azeri Firm Socar - WALL STREET JOURNAL

George Stathakis, Greek minister of energy and environment

Nov. 30, 2016 3:53 p.m. ETNEKTARIA STAMOULI
ATHENS—Greece said Wednesday it had failed to reach an agreement with Azerbaijan’s state energy company, Socar, to sell a 66% stake in Greek natural-gas operator Desfa, creating another obstacle in the country’s efforts to reach the privatization targets dictated by its bailout agreement.

The Azeri company proposed reducing the price of its investment, whose initial amount was €400 million. The proposal “was legally unfeasible and would cancel the tender,” a statement from Greece’s Energy Ministry said.

“The Greek government will decide on how it will re-launch the tender next week after consultation with its international creditors,” an energy ministry official said.

Minimum 3 years needed to bring Mediterranean gas to global markets - DAILY SABAH / ANADOLU AGENCY

30.11.2016, ANKARA

NOTE: Turkish state propaganda terminology against EU's Republic of Cyprus removed.

A minimum of three years is needed to be able to ship gas firstly to Turkey and further to the world market from the Aphrodite gas field in Cyprus and the Leviathan field in Israel, general manager of Turkish Zorlu Energy Natural Gas Group said Wednesday.

Zorlu Energy General Manager Fuat Celepci told Anadolu Agency that the private sector in Turkey expects progress in Mediterranean gas following the normalization process between Turkey and Israel in the region, but taking into account that Mediterranean gas also constitutes gas from the Aphrodite field in Cyprus.

"The expected steps were taken between Turkey and Israel in the context of normalization, but Mediterranean gas is not just Israeli gas. We need to take concrete steps and present it to world energy markets," Celepci said.

He explained that the route to be used for the transfer of Israeli gas would pass through the exclusive economic area of Cyprus.

Egypt has 6.7 mn tonnes of unused refining capacity - Oil Minister - ENTERPRISE

Wednesday, 30 November 2016

Egypt’s refineries are working at less than 80% of their capacity, Oil Minister Tarek El Molla told Al Borsa. The refineries have an annual capacity of 33 mn tonnes, but only process 26.3 mn tonnes, including 3.4 mn tonnes of Kuwaiti crude, he said.

Energean gets exploitation license offshore western Greece - OIL & GAS JOURNAL

11/29/2016

Houston

By OGJ editors

The Greek Ministry of Environment and Energy and Energean Oil & Gas SA have agreed to the conversion of the West Katakolon exploration license to a 25-year exploitation license effective immediately.

West Katakolon is part of the Katakolon concession area and covers 60 sq km with 10 million bbl of recoverable oil. Energean will be operator of the field development, which follows that of its operated Prinos oil field and South Kavala gas field, both in the North Aegean Sea.

A field development plan (FDP) for West Katakolon will be submitted to the energy ministry by the end of February. Drilling is planned for 2018 and will use extended-reach drilling technology to drill from onshore to offshore reservoirs. Production startup is expected in 2018-19.

BP Enters Zohr "Super Giant" Gas Field as Eni Cuts Stake - FORBES

CEOs Claudio Descalzi (ENI); Emilio Lozoya (Pemex); Bob Dudley (BP),
Amin H. Nasser (Saudi Aramco), Patrick Pouyanne (Total) 

NOV 29, 2016 @ 07:42 PM 
Christopher Coats

After leading the discovery of the Zohr field, Italy’s Eni has signaled its intention to reduce its stake in the field to about 50%, starting with the sale of a 10% stake to BP for $375 million.

Billed as the largest natural gas discovery in the Mediterranean in the last decade, the Zohr offshore field near Egypt has attracted intense interest from companies hoping to make the most out of the region’s new-found energy potential. According to earlier reports, the “super giant” field could be home to an estimated 30 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

However, Eni appears ready to reduce its exposure to the effort, telling media outlets that it feels it can manage the project with a smaller stake.

Greece again asks SOCAR to extend DESFA tender term - TREND NEWS AGENCY

29 November 2016 12:26 (UTC+04:00)Maksim Tsurkov, Baku, Azerbaijan

Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (HRADF) again requested from Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR to extend the term of a letter of guarantee on a tender on SOCAR’s acquiring a 66-percent stake in the Greek national gas transmission system operator DESFA until Dec. 23, the Greek media reported Nov. 29.

It is reported that the HRADF appealed to SOCAR with the aim of proper execution of the DESFA privatization contract.

“Simultaneously, Greece’s Energy Ministry is in constant contact with SOCAR and aims to close the deal in the next two days, as the current letter of guarantee expires on Nov. 30,” according to the Greek media.

Glencore comes out top as Egypt awards mega LNG import tender - REUTERS

Mon Nov 28, 2016 | 3:37pm GMTReporting by Mark Tay; Additional reporting by Henning Gloystein in Singapore and Eric Knecht in Cairo; Editing by Susan Fenton

• EGAS awards mega tender, taking mainly 2017 cargoes
• Glencore emerges as top supplier, followed by Trafigura
• Jan-Mar 2017 cargoes priced at about 15 percent to crude
• Remainder of 2017 cargoes priced lower as fundamentals expected to weaken

Egypt will import around 60 cargoes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) next year and Glencore will be the biggest supplier, trading sources with knowledge of the results of Egypt's mega tender for 2017 and 2018 said on Monday.

Glencore bagged the right to supply around 25 liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes to Egypt, while second-placed Trafigura is understood to have won the right to supply about 18 cargoes of the super-cooled fuel, the trading sources said.

Other parties successful in Egypt Natural Gas Holding's (EGAS) tender included BB Energy, Gunvor and Vitol, the sources added.

Breakeven Rundown: Mediterranean, GoM Gas Outshine Others - HART ENERGY / STRATAS ADVISORS

Monday, November 28, 2016 - 3:00pm
Velda Addison

When it comes to breakeven prices for development projects targeting natural gas, the ultradeep water of the Mediterranean Sea and the deep U.S. Gulf of Mexico are hard to beat.

This is based on research conducted by Stratas Advisors, which studied the economics of about 150 natural gas assets worldwide.

“Driven by the low-cost Leviathan gas development with high well productivities offshore Israel, the breakeven price of the ultra-deepwater development is only about $1.5/Mcf [thousand cubic feet], much lower than its counterparts in the shallow-water and deepwater developments in Egypt and Libya, where the breakevens are around $4.4/Mcf and $3.8/Mcf,” the research and consulting company said in a report. “The low cost giant gas discovery Zohr, offshore Egypt, drives the average price down in the deepwater segment.”

Eni aims to cut stake in Zohr field to 50 pct, could happen quickly - REUTERS

Mon Nov 28, 2016 4:50pm GMTReporting by Stephen Jewkes, writing by Agnieszka Flak

MILAN Nov 28 (Reuters) - Italian energy group Eni plans to reduce its stake in the giant Zohr gas field offshore Egypt to 50 percent, Chief Executive Claudio Descalzi said on Monday.

The company, which owns the whole concession that includes Zohr, already agreed to sell a 10 percent stake to BP for $375 million last week. In addition, BP will also reimburse Eni around $150 million in past expenditure costs.

"We believe we can operate the field with 50 percent, that's my objective," Descalzi told journalists on the sidelines of an event in Milan when asked whether Eni could reduce its stake further.

"This could happen fairly quickly, in our business that could also mean a few months." 

Ratio unit to raise NIS 100m in TASE IPO - GLOBES

28/11/2016, 12:22
Nitzan Cohen

Delek will buy 17.5% of the offering in Ratio Petroleum, which holds gas and oil exploration permits abroad.
An interesting new collaboration seems to be forming between Leviathan partners Delek and Ratio in Israel's gas and oil exploration industry. Ratio Petroleum, controlled by the Ratio Oil Exploration (1992) LP (TASE:RATI.L) partnership, is to hold a Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) IPO to raise NIS 100 million in a partnership unit and options issue. The fascinating development in this IPO, other than the relatively barren IPO market on Tel Aviv in the past few years, is the commitment made by Delek Group Ltd. (TASE: DLEKG) to buy 17.5% of the offering and therefore become a significant member of this partnership.

East Med: Opening new horizons for natural gas in SE Europe - NEW EUROPE

08:06 NOVEMBER 28, 2016, 08:06
Harry Aposporis

The effort to produce natural gas from the major deposits of Eastern Mediterranean is now well underway, as Eni continues to develop the Zohr field in Egypt, Noble Energy advances Aphrodite in Cyprus and the Leviathan partners in Israel seek potential buyers. At the same time, Cyprus proceeds with its third licensing round, with its result expected to be announced before the end of this year.

Obviously, a crucial issue for the future of Eastern Mediterranean gas is its marketing and the way it is going to be transferred to major markets, like Europe. One of the most promising available solutions is the East Med pipeline, proposed by DEPA, an ambitious, but completely feasible project, which is expected to provide stability and unlock the precious resources of that region in the near future.

Environmental Affairs Ministry approved plans for Zohr pipeline - ENTERPRISE

Monday, 28 November 2016

The Environmental Affairs Ministry approved the plans to build a 220 km pipeline connecting the Zohr gas fields to an onshore processing station in Port Said, Ahram Gate reported. The Ministry approved of the studies for the pipeline, saying it complies with all of its environmental regulations.

Israeli Leviathan Partners Get Up to $1.75 Billion HSBC, JPMorgan Financing - HAARETZ / REUTERS

Nov 27, 2016 6:22 PM

Delek Drilling and Avner Oil Exploration said the funds would go towards the A1 development stage of the project.

The main Israeli partners developing the large Leviathan natural gas site said on Sunday they signed commitment letters with HSBC and J.P. Morgan for up to $1.75 billion of financing.

Delek Drilling and Avner Oil Exploration said the funds would go towards the A1 development stage of the project.

Delek and Avner, units of conglomerate Delek Group, hold a combined 45.3 percent of Leviathan. Texas-based Noble Energy owns nearly 40 percent.