Israel hydrocarbons lessons - IN CYPRUS / CYPRUS WEEKLY

March 25, 2017
Fiona Mullen

When energy consultant Gina Cohen first visited Cyprus about five years ago, shortly after the Aphrodite field had just been discovered, she advised the group gathered at the time to “think small”.

Unfortunately the opposite happened. We had politicians suggesting that $80 billion (about four times GDP) was on its way to government coffers, grand designs for a regional hub centred on a land-based liquefied natural gas plant (LNG) and more recent proposals for a long pipeline from Israel to Italy.

Meanwhile, five-and-a-half years after the discovery of the Aphrodite field, Cyprus is still importing diesel and polluting heavy fuel oil to feed its power plants. This means that electricity prices are still subject to large swings in oil prices. This year electricity prices are on the rise again, eating into disposable incomes during a year in which people might see their first pay rise in five years.

Cyprus: gas search will continue despite Turkish 'threats' - CNBC / ASSOCIATED PRESS

Friday, 24 Mar 2017 | 12:47 PM ET

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Cyprus said Friday it won't give up a search for oil and gas off its shores despite a call to stop by Turkey which warned that it would "take all necessary measures to protect its interests" in the eastern Mediterranean, as well as those of breakaway Turkish Cypriots.

Cyprus' government said it's regrettable that Turkey is resorting to "threats" to advance its own interests under the guise of concern for the rights of Turkish Cypriots.

"The Republic of Cyprus will resolutely continue its policy in the field of hydrocarbons, in full respect of international and European law," the Cyprus government said in a statement.

Interview with Egypt’s minister of petroleum & mineral resources, Tarek El-Molla - BP MAGAZINE

24 March 2017

Egypt has faced challenges to its energy supply in recent years, but is looking ahead to new opportunities to revive domestic production. The country’s minister of petroleum and mineral resources Tarek El-Molla talks to BP Magazine about a new era of investment, how Egypt is well-placed to become a regional energy hub on the eastern Mediterranean, and the significant role that BP is playing in the country’s energy future


What have been Egypt’s energy challenges over the last five years?

Our challenges over recent years really began with the revolution of 2011 and consecutive events that led to political instability, security issues and a general slowdown in the Egyptian economy; which was echoed in the oil and gas industry. 

TechnipFMC on for Leviathan - UPSTREAM

24 Mar 2017 10:15 GMT
Iain Esau

Contractor heavily tipped to take major pipeline installation contract

Paris and New York-listed TechnipFMC is the front-runner to secure a major pipeline installation contract for Noble Energy’s initial $3.75-billion Leviathan project off Israel.

Industry sources said the super-contractor has beaten off rival bids from Subsea 7 and Allseas, among others, to secure pole position in the eyes of the US independent.

“We think they have got Leviathan,” said a project watcher.

Another market player added: “It’s TechnipFMC for Leviathan.”

TechnipFMC’s pipelay contract is expected to cover a pair of 117-kilometre pipelines taking gas and condensate, separately, to a big fixed platform installed on Israel’s continental shelf, about 10 kilometres off the coast.

Press release by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the statement of the Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey - REPUBLIC OF CYPRUS

UN Secreatry General Guterres (left) with President Anastasiades

24/03/2017 17:40

With regard to the press release issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, on Friday, 24 March 2017, concerning the hydrocarbon-related activities of the Republic of Cyprus in its Exclusive Economic Zone and continental shelf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus emphasizes the following:

The statement once more demonstrates Turkey’s disregard for conventional and customary International Law, as reflected in United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982, and contempt for the sovereign rights of the Republic of Cyprus over its continental shelf and Exclusive Economic Zone.

International Law provides that a country’s natural wealth belongs to the state and the responsibility for managing it lies with its Government for the benefit of all its citizens. Consequently, actions that put into question the sovereign rights of the Republic of Cyprus not only contradict International Law, but are also completely groundless.

Lebanon: Israel's maritime zone law means war - GLOBES

23 Mar, 2017 11:24
Nati Yefet

Lebanese parliament spokesman Nabih Berri said that Israel's proposed law on the energy-rich disputed waters could trigger a war.
The speaker of the Lebanese parliament Nabih Berri claims that the maritime zone law that Israel is formulating, and includes declaring some 860 square kilometers of disputed waters as Israeli territory, could trigger a war between the countries, reports the Lebanese newspaper "Al Joumhouria."

Berri said, "This is a new assault by Israel on Lebanese sovereignty. What has been revealed by Israeli media was not arbitrary, but rather reveals a path taken by Israel in a bid to control Lebanon's gas and oil wealth within Lebanese economic borders.”

“Anyway, if the Israeli disposition is correct, which I tend to believe, it is tantamount to a war sparked by Israel. It is another maritime Shebaa Farms Conflict which opens the situation to many dangerous possibilities."

Libyan oil output rises to 700,000 barrels per day after port fighting ends: NOC - REUTERS

A dog walks near Ras Lanuf Oil and Gas Company in Ras Lanuf,
Libya, March 16, 2017 - REUTERS/Esam Omran Al-Fetori

Tunis, Thu Mar 23, 2017 | 4:53am EDT
Aidan Lewis

Libya's oil production has reached 700,000 barrels per day (bpd), the National Oil Corporation (NOC) said on Wednesday, recovering from a drop earlier this month caused by fighting at two key oil ports.

"We are working very hard to reach 800,000 barrels by the end of April 2017, and, God willing, we will reach 1.1 million barrels next August," NOC Chairman Mustafa Sanalla was quoted as saying in a statement.

The NOC said in a separate statement it hoped to produce 55,000 bpd in the coming weeks from the Abu Attifel and Rimal fields, which are currently closed for maintenance.

Libya's oil output rebounds, nearly matching levels prior to clashes - WORLD OIL

By SALMA EL WARDANY on 3/22/2017

CAIRO (Bloomberg) -- Libya’s oil production has climbed to almost match the level before clashes disrupted output three weeks ago and forced the OPEC nation’s two biggest oil ports to halt shipments.

Output has climbed to 699,000 bpd, Jadalla Alaokali, board member at state-run National Oil Corp., said by phone. The nation’s biggest port, Es Sider, will load a tanker with crude on March 26, resuming shipments for the first time since earlier this month, he said.

The tanker, still to be nominated, is set to load one million barrels at Es Sider, according to a person familiar with the situation, who asked not to be identified because the matter isn’t public.

Cyprus to move forward with more oil drilling licensing -minister (XOM, ENI, FP) - MARKETS INSIDER / REUTERS

Mar. 22, 2017, 05:26 PM

Reporting: Dion Rabouin & Michele Kambas; Editing by Andrew Hay

NEW YORK, March 22 (Reuters) - Cyprus will move ahead with further licensing for oil drilling after analyzing the results of its most recent exploration, the country's energy minister Yiorgos Lakkotrypis said on Wednesday.

Cyprus announced the completion of a third round of licensing for well drilling in which Exxon Mobil, Italy’s ENI and France’s Total won additional blocks offshore. The contracts will be signed on April 5 and 6, but it has not yet been determined which blocks off Cyprus' coast the companies will drill, Lakkotrypis said.

The minister said that while the country's current priority is "exploration, exploration, exploration," he expected much more for Cyprus on the energy front.

"Once we have the results of this exploration 2.0 as I called it, then of course there will be a fourth (round) and a fifth and a sixth and I’m sure there will be plenty more," Lakkotrypis told Reuters on the sidelines of Capital Link's Invest in Cyprus Forum in New York City.

Dolphinus in talks to import gas from Israel’s Tamar field - ENTERPRISE / AL MAL

Tuesday, 21 March 2017

Representatives from major shareholders in the Tamar gas field in Israel were reportedly here over the weekend to discuss exporting gas to Egypt through Dolphinus Holdings, according to unsubstantiated reports from Masrawy picked up by Al Mal. Tamar field shareholders, including Delek, Noble, and Isramco, had reportedly agreed to supply 60 bcf from the Israeli field through a pipeline and had been here to iron out the details. 

Gazprom and Italy’s Eni signed a memorandum of understanding in Moscow - TASS

© Stanislav Krasilnikov/TASS

March 21, 14:58UTC+3

MOSCOW, March 21. /TASS/. Gazprom and Italy’s Eni signed a memorandum of understanding in Moscow, the Russian gas holding said on Tuesday.

"The paper reflects interest of the parties in analyzing prospects of cooperation in the sphere of developing the southern corridor of gas supplies from Russia to European nations, particularly to Italy, and upgrading contracts on Russian gas supply to the republic," Gazprom said.

"Upgrade of contracts will only pertain to a change in delivery destinations in context of the southern supply corridor," Gazprom’s international trading arm Gazprom Export said.

Conflict with Lebanon on gas looking likely - GLOBES

21 Mar, 2017 12:07
Amiram Barkat

The recent escalation in tensions over offshore gas tenders was probably a deliberate step by Hezbollah.

A military conflict between Israel and one of its neighbors over control of marine areas is becoming increasing likely as the dispute between Israel and Lebanon over the maritime border heats up. The recent escalation was probably a deliberate step by Hezbollah, which wants to make the maritime border dispute into a Shebaa Farms - the Lebanese name for the territory on Har Dov that Hezbollah says belongs to Lebanon. Will this be the first natural gas war in this stricken corner of the Middle East?

The maritime border is formally different from a land border, because it does not border Israeli territory; it borders an area in which Israel claims exclusive economic rights. Actually Israeli naval ships are patrolling along the maritime border, to be joined by the surface warships ordered from the German shipyards in the affair now being investigated, which involves the prime minister's lawyer.

Israel's Ratio secures $400 mln to fund Leviathan natgas project - REUTERS

JERUSALEM (Reuters), Tue Mar 21, 2017 | 8:02am EDTAri Rabinovitch

Ratio Oil said on Tuesday it has secured up to $400 million to finance its share in the development of the large Leviathan natural gas field offshore Israel.

Ratio holds a 15 percent stake in Leviathan, together with Israel's Delek Group, which has a 45.34 percent share and operator Noble Energy, which holds a 39.66 percent stake.

The partners have approved a first-phase budget of $3.75 billion dollars.

Ratio said it signed financing agreements with a consortium of local and foreign groups, including HSBC and BNP Paribas. 

Gazprom and Eni sign Memorandum of Understanding - GAZPROM

Claudio Descalzi and Alexey Miller

March 21, 2017, 14:30

Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, and Claudio Descalzi, Chief Executive Officer of Eni, signed a Memorandum of Understanding at the Gazprom headquarters today.

The document reflects the parties’ interest in analyzing the prospects for cooperation in developing the southern corridor for Russian gas supplies to European countries, including Italy, as well as updating the contracts for Russian gas deliveries to Italy.

Background

Eni S.p.A. is a global energy company operating in the oil, gas, petrochemical and engineering industries, producing and selling electricity, and providing oil field services. Eni is Gazprom's major partner within the Blue Stream project.

Rosneft signs LNG deal with Egypt for 10 cargoes this year- MENAFN / GULF TIMES

21/03/2017

Russia's largest crude producer, Rosneft joined traders from Trafigura Group to Glencore in boosting liquefied natural gas deliveries to Egypt before the country restores domestic production.

Rosneft, which seeks to expand its international gas business, signed a contract to supply the north African nation with 10 LNG cargoes this year, Rosneft said yesterday by email. The deal, which followed a debut contract of three cargoes last year, will further strengthen the strategic partnership between Rosneft and Egypt, the company said.

Gas Talks With Turkey May Wrap Up in Summer, Says Israel Energy Minister - BLOOMBERG

21 March 2017, 11:18 a.m. EET
David Wainer and Yaacov Benmeleh

• Aim is to create framework to let companies negotiate
• Negotiations with Italy on second pipeline proceeding

Talks between government officials on building a natural gas pipeline from Israel to Turkey may conclude as early as this summer, Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz said on Tuesday.

The aim is to create a framework that would let companies on both sides advance their own negotiations, with gas flowing to Turkey in about three years, Steinitz said in an interview with Yousef Gamal El-Din and Shery Ahn on Bloomberg Television. Israel is also in talks for a more ambitious pipeline that would pass through Cyprus and Greece to Italy, whose energy minister plans to visit Israel in early April to discuss the project, he said.
Keep up with the best of Bloomberg Politics.

Gov’t timeline to cut down on subsidies ends in 2019 - ENTERPRISE / AL SHOROUK

Tuesday, 21 March 2017

Gov’t timeline to cut down on subsidies ends in 2019: The government does not plan to fully eliminate fuel subsidies, said Oil Minister Tarek El Molla in an extensive interview with Al Shorouk. The timeline to reduce spending on fuel subsidies will end in 2019, but the government will keep paying for fuel subsidies after that, he added. It is worth noting that Egypt had only committed to “reducing fuel subsidies” in its agreement with the IMF for the USD 12 bn loan, but had agreed to a complete phase-out of subsidies for electricity in the coming five years. Other takeaways from the interview:

SDX Starts Drilling Operations at SD-1X Well - RIGZONE

Monday, March 20, 2017
Rigzone Staff

SDX Energy Inc. has commenced drilling operations on the SD-1X well at its South Disouq concession in Nile Delta area of Egypt.

The well is targeting gas in the upper Abu Madi section and oil in the lower AEB & Abu Roash sections. Drilling operations are anticipated to take between 30 and 45 days, depending on what is encountered in the targeted intervals.

SDX also revealed that upon commencement of operations it has been granted a six-month extension to the first exploration period, until September 19. This will allow sufficient time for the SD-1X well results to be fully evaluated prior to making any decision to enter into the second exploration period at South Disouq, SDX said in a company statement.

Azerbaijan’s Lost Transparency - CARNEGIE EUROPE

March 20, 2017

Thomas de Waal

Azerbaijan’s suspension from a coalition of energy-extracting countries will harm Baku’s international brand and image as a reliable place to invest.

Can a petrostate with a rent-seeking elite ever reform itself—or at least clean up its business practices?

That the answer could be “yes” was the idea that drove the founders of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) in 2003. The initiative is a voluntary coalition of countries with energy- and mineral-extraction industries that pledge to make their transactions and sources of wealth transparent. The project took off and won support from international financing organizations, and at the start of 2017, the EITI had 51 implementing member countries.

As of March 9, it has one less. Azerbaijan, the Caspian petrostate on the eastern edge of Europe, announced it was quitting EITI after being suspended from the organization. The announcement came just as the groundwork was being completed for an expanded network of three pipelines scheduled to take Azerbaijani gas to European markets by 2020.

Oil Ministry, Sidi Kreir to establish USD 1 bn polypropylene factory - ENTERPRISE / AL BORSA / SIDPEC

Monday, 20 March 2017

The Oil Ministry and the Chemical Industries Holding Company are planning to cooperate with Sidi Kreir Petrochemicals to establish a polypropylene factory in Alexandria with investments of up to USD 1 bn, Al Borsa reports. The factory is targeting an annual production capacity of 450 tonnes to cover around 50% of the market’s needs of polypropylene, chairman of Sidi Kreir Petrochemicals (SIDPEC) Osama Mahdy said.

Turkish vessel to begin deep-sea drilling in Black Sea - DAILY SABAH

19.3.2017

The seismic detection vessel "Barbaros Hayrettin Paşa," belonging to the Turkish Petroleum Corporation, has started to conduct deep-sea drilling and seismic exploration of oil and natural gas resources in Samsun, Ordu and Giresun in the Black Sea.

The Turkish Petroleum Corporation, which is a subsidiary of the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, has begun natural gas and oil exploration in the Black Sea. The ship Barbaros Hayrettin Paşa which anchored in the Samsun Port harbor on Saturday and received logistic support, started to conduct research on Samsun, Ordu and Giresun offshore. Moreover, onboard the vessel, which will conduct research for three months in the region, are 44 crew members, including mostly researchers.

New natural gas regulator to fall under cabinet’s jurisdiction, not Oil Ministry - ENTERPRISE / AL BORSA

Sunday, 19 March 2017

The House of Representatives’ Energy Committee amended clauses of the Natural Gas Act placing the new market regulator under the jurisdiction of the cabinet and not the oil ministry, committee member El Sayed Hegazy tells Al Borsa. 

He expects the committee to vote on the much-anticipated law — which deregulates the gas market and limiting the government’s role to that of regulator — next week before sending it over to the House general assembly for a vote.

The real prospects of East Med Gas - IN CYPRUS / CYPRUS WEEKLY

March 19, 2017
Charles Ellinas

This was the subject of a very successful conference – EMGC 2017 – held in Nicosia over March 14-15 and attended by leading experts and delegates from 25 countries.

The conference was organised by Gulf-Publishing Company Houston. Its focus was the East Med gas industry and its development, concentrating on markets, project development, gas monetisation, investment and gas trading, avoiding local politics. In other words the conference covered all the key issues that affect the future development of East Med gas resources. I examine and analyse these in this article.

Aramco shipments officially resume - ENTERPRISE

Sunday, 19 March 2017

Saudi Aramco has resume shipments of petroleum products to Egypt, which received shipments on both Friday and Saturday, Oil Minister Tarek El Molla told CBC’s Lamees El Hadidi last night. The next two shipments are scheduled to arrive on 25 and 26 March and will then return to a regular schedule from next month. Egypt is set to buy c. USD 320-340 mn each month at today’s prices. El Molla had told Reuters’ Arabic service on Thursday that the shipments were expected to resume by the end of March or in early April. The resumption of shipments — part of a USD 23 bn, five-year supply agreement halted last year amid rising tensions between Cairo and Riyadh — was announced last Wednesday.