DESFA-AlbGaz to form joint venture for TAP pipeline in Albania - ANA-MPA

13/ 04/ 2017

Hellenic Gas Transmission System Operator S.A (DESFA) and Albania's AlbGaz have agreed to set up a joint venture to operate and maintain the sections of the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) in Albania. 

A memorandum of understanding signed by DESFA CEO Sotirios Nikas and AlbGaz CEO Klodian Gradeci in Tirana on Wednesday calls for the transfer of knowhow from DESFA to the new venture, which will be based in the Albanian capital.

Details on the new company's corporate structure will be decided by a working group set up for this purpose in the coming weeks.

Turkey Sees No Need for Cyprus to Approve Israel Gas Pipeline - RIGZONE / BLOOMBERG

Thursday, April 13, 2017
David Wainer

(w/ assistance from Paul Tugwell, Georgios Georgiou and Selcan Hacaoglu)

(Bloomberg) -- A Turkey-Israel gas pipeline deal could be built through Cyprus’ economic waters even without Cypriot consent, a Turkish official said, dismissing what some experts see as a key obstacle to an energy deal between the two Mediterranean countries.

Cyprus can’t block a gas pipeline from Israel to Turkey, and gas talks with Israel don’t hinge on attempts to reach a peace deal in Cyprus, the Turkish official said, requesting anonymity because the matter is sensitive. A pipeline bringing gas from Israel’s Leviathan field to Turkey would need to pass through Cyprus’s Exclusive Economic Zone and the Cypriots would be informed about the plans, but international maritime law allows the pipeline to be laid even without Cyprus’s consent, he said.

Cyprus-talk restart lifts hope for gas line - OIL & GAS JOURNAL

HOUSTON, Apr. 12 2017
By OGJ editors

Prospects improved for construction of a natural gas pipeline between East Mediterranean fields and Turkey Apr. 11 when negotiations over the reunification of Cyprus resumed after a 54-day break.

Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader (Note: of Cyprus' largely secular Turkish Cypriot minority) Mustafa Akinci scheduled four meetings during the next month and a half but set no deadline for an agreement.

EC’s Director General meets with Finance and Petroleum Ministers - ENTERPRISE / EGYPT'S MINISTRY OF PETROLEUM

Thursday, 13 April 2017

Finance Minister Amr El Garhy discussed cooperating with the European Commission on improving the country’s tax system with its Director GeneralChristian Danielsson on Wednesday. The commission’s delegation expressed interest in providing technical and financial support to improve the efficiency of Egypt’s tax collection, and helping bring up revenues in line with economic performance, according to a ministry statement.

The European delegation also sat down with Oil Minister Tarek El Molla to discuss implementing the Natural Gas Act, which would deregulate Egypt’s gas market and see the state take on the role of regulator. They discussed the possibility of the EU funding more sustainable energy projects, according to a statement from the ministry.

EU backs Israel-to-Italy pipeline to alter East Med energy chessboard - HURRIYET DAILY NEWS

Ministers of Cyprus, Italy, Israel & Greece, with EU Commissioner 

April/13/2017
Micha'el Tanchum

On April 3, the European Union and the governments of Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Israel pledged their support for the construction of the world’s longest undersea natural gas pipeline to transport Eastern Mediterranean gas to EU markets via Greece and Italy. Costing over $6 billion, the more than 2,000-kilometer mega-pipeline could transform the energy geopolitics of the region. The so-called Cross-Med (East Med) pipeline would reduce the EU’s reliance on Turkey’s Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) as the major supply route for non-Russian natural gas.

NOC: Libya's Wafa Oil And Gas Field Reopens, Force Majeure Lifted - RIGZONE / REUTERS

Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Reporting: Ahmed Elumami; Writing: Aidan Lewis, Patrick Markey; Editing: Susan Thomas

TRIPOLI, April 12 (Reuters) - Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC) has lifted force majeure on production from the Wafa field after an armed group reopened oil and gas pipelines leading to the Mellitah terminal, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.

Production of oil, gas and condensates had been interrupted at Wafa by a shutdown that started on March 26 near the town of Nalut. Wafa is operated by Mellitah Oil Co, a joint venture between NOC and Italy's ENI.

The reopening would allow Mellitah to restore production of about 450 million cubic feet of gas, 9,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil, and 7,500 bpd of condensate, NOC said.

Turkey gas exploration raises eyebrows - KATHIMERINI

President Anastasiades of Cyprus (middle) with the leaders of
the other six southern EU nations

12.04.2017 : 21:52
Vassilis Nedos

Tensions between Nicosia and Ankara could escalate next week as there are fears that Turkish plans to perform deep-sea drilling and seismic surveys for oil and natural gas resources in the Eastern Mediterranean could be carried out within Cyprus’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), where the island’s government announced on Tuesday it will conduct its own research.

Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Berat Albayrak has said that his country will launch exploration – as early as next week – in the Mediterranean and Black Sea, and that it will be conducting more active two- and three-dimensional seismic surveys in both locations.

Nicosia announces start of seismic surveys - TEKMOR MONITOR

Cyprus announced the start of seismic surveys in its exclusive economic zone, in blocks 6, 8, 9 and 11, whose licenses are held by oil majors ENI and Total, to be conducted by PSG's R/V “RAMFORM HYPERION”. The NAVTEX follows.

07 1800 UTC APR 2017 

JRCC LARNACA/CYPRUS RADIO NAV WRNG NR 136/17

SEISMIC SURVEYS BY R/V RAMFORM HYPERION FROM 07 APR 2017 TO 15 AUG 2017 WITHIN THE EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE OF THE REPUBLIC OF CYPRUS IN AREA BOUNDED BY THE FOLLOWING POSITIONS: 

Egypt to import 1 million barrels of crude oil a month from Iraq - EGYPT INDEPENDENT / REUTERS

Lukoil logo In West Qurna oilfield, Basra, Iraq, March 29, 2014.

Wed, 12/04/2017 - 15:11

The Cabinet has agreed to import one million barrels of Iraqi oil a month, Minister of Petroleum Tareq el-Molla announced.

The contract for the deal will be signed within days, he added in a press conference on Tuesday at the Cabinet headquarters.

Molla expectes the first shipment to reach Egypt on May 1. The ship capacity is up to two million barrels. A total of 12 shipments will reach Egypt a year, he added.

Azerbaijan president: gas pipeline to EU will not be stopped - CLIMATE HOME

11/04/2017, 9:47am
Karl Mathiesen

Environmental protests against the $46bn Southern Gas Corridor are baseless, says Ilham Aliyev, who expects to begin exporting gas through the pipeline by 2018

A massive pipeline linking Azerbaijan’s gas fields to the networks of Europe is an inevitability, Azeri president Ilham Aliyev has told his cabinet.

“The implementation of the Southern Gas Corridor is already a reality. True, there are those who want to prevent us. It is natural. We came across these ten years ago,” said Aliyev, as reported by the Azerbaijan Press Agency on Tuesday.

The Southern Gas Corridor is one of the world’s largest fossil fuel projects, with a projected construction cost of $46bn.

Libya halts Sharara oil loadings as biggest field stops pumping - WORLD OIL / BLOOMBERG

April/10/2017

Salma Alma El Wardany and Saleh Sarrar

CAIRO and DUBAI (Bloomberg) -- Libya’s biggest oil field stopped producing just one week after it reopened, forcing the OPEC member to declare force majeure at a key export terminal, the latest disruptions to the country’s output and shipments of crude.

The pipeline carrying crude from Sharara, Libya’s biggest field, to the Zawiya refinery stopped operating on Sunday, according to two people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified because they’re not authorized to speak to the media. It wasn’t clear why the pipeline was shut. The National Oil Corp. declared force majeure on loadings of Sharara crude from the Zawiya oil terminal, citing a halt in production at the field, according to a copy of the NOC’s decree obtained by Bloomberg.

TransGlobe Energy Corporation Announces Q1 2017 Operations Update - TRANSGLOBE ENERGY CORPORATION

April 10, 2017

TransGlobe Energy Corporation (Calgary, Alberta) announced an operational update. Below the Egypt related section. For the complete press release click the link below.

Total Company production averaged 16,841 Boepd in March, comprised of 14,152 Bopd in Egypt and 2,689 Boepd in Canada (57% light oil and liquids). Total Company production averaged approximately 16,672 Boepd in the first quarter, comprised of 13,941 Bopd in Egypt and 2,731 Boepd in Canada (57% light oil and liquids). This is an increase over the first quarter 2016 of approximately 38% including the Canadian acquisition or a 17% increase in Egyptian production.

Shale Gas And Its Impact On Turkish Economy – OpEd - EURASIA REVIEW

April 10, 2017
Haluk Direskeneli

“Shale Gas” is on the agenda. What is “Shale gas”? Is Shale Gas production as easy as you might think? Is it cheap? Do we have it in our environment? Can we produce? What is the cost of Shale Gas production? What happens to the environment in Shale Gas production process?

Shale gas is basically natural gas. Only the thermal calorific value is a bit low. Shale gas production is same as Natural Gas production by non-traditional, non-conventional method. The soil structure “thin-bedded, rich in organic matter”, is suitable for producing oil and gas is called “Shale”.

“Shale Gas” is the method of taking the Natural Gas that is trapped between the deep underground rocks. Shale Oil (Shale Petroleum) are removed by the same methods. Shale Gas and Shale Oil production technology are not new practice. Since 1947 there has been market practice in the United States.

Energy minister plays down Turkish threats over gas drilling - CYPRUS MAIL

Cyprus' Energy Minister Yiorgos Lakkotrypis

April 10, 2017
George Psyllides

Turkish threats over the Republic’s natural gas exploration are nothing new, Energy Minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis said on Monday, reiterating that Cyprus would continue applying its policy on energy.

“Provocations and threats are nothing new,” the minister said.

Ankara had issued threats in 2007, 2011, when US-based Noble Energy started drilling, as well as 2012, when Cyprus announced its second hydrocarbon licensing round.

“We must handle them calmly and certainly we must be prepared well,” Lakkotrypis said.

Gas pipelines: Politics and reality - IN CYPRUS / CYPRUS WEEKLY

April 9, 2017
Charles Ellinas

With the joint declaration of the Energy Ministers of Israel, Cyprus, Greece and Italy and European Commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete at a meeting in Tel Aviv on Monday, the issue of gas pipelines is back in the limelight.

This was the first such meeting involving these five parties. The focus was the unveiling of the plans for the natural gas pipeline from the Eastern Mediterranean to Europe (the East Med gas pipeline).

Prime Minister, Minister of Petroleum meet with Shell Upstream International Director - ENERGY EGYPT / EGYPT'S MINISTRY OF PETROLEUM

 

April 9, 2017

Egyptian Prime Minister, Eng. Sherif Ismail, met with Andrew Brown, Upstream International Director at Shell in the presence of Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Tarek El Molla, and Eng. Gasser Hanter, Country Chairman of Royal Dutch Shell Egypt, to discuss existing and potential opportunities in Egypt’s oil and gas exploration.

The meeting included a report about the company’s work in Egypt and the existing opportunities in gas exploration. Prime Minister confirmed that the Egyptian oil and gas sector is a promising industry with a great future. Additionally, the government is keen to increase the profit of natural minerals and to better manage these resources. The government is also promoting mineral developments to attract further investments.

Edison begins production from new platform in Abu Qir concession, output up 20% - ENTERPRISE / EDISON

Sunday, 9 April 2017

Edison announced beginning production from the new platform North Abu Qir PIII (NA/Q-PIII) at the Abu Qir concession. 

The first production well, NAQPIII#1, came onstream last week and increased the overall natural gas output by circa 20%. 

Two additional wells are expected to be completed by July 2017, Edison says.

Agreement to import Iraqi crude to be finalized soon, Iraqi ambassador says - ENTERPRISE / REUTERS

Sunday, 9 April 2017

Egypt will finalize an agreement to import crude from Iraq soon. An Egyptian delegation will visit Iraq soon to close the agreement, which will include a 90-day grace period for payment, the Iraqi ambassador to Egypt Habib El Sadr told Reuters. 

Egypt has been in talks with Iraq to import 1 mn bbl of crude, with Oil Minister Tarek El Molla expecting the agreement to finalize this month. 

“The Iraqi government last week approved plans to extend two oil and gas pipelines from Iraq, via Jordan to Egypt at a cost of [USD 6 bn], the ambassador said, adding that the work will take three years to complete.”