Exxon Mobil ready to drill - IN CYPRUS

September 2, 2017
George Telaveris

September could be another milestone for Cyprus’ energy plans, as ExxonMobil and Qatar Petroleum consortium is about to announce its exploration programme in Block 10.

At the same time, the Total-Eni consortium will be announcing results from its natural gas exploration in Onesiphoros Block 11.

“ExxonMobil had been particularly active since signing the contracts with Cyprus in April, and is ready to give more details regarding its exploration programme,” a person familiar with the matter told the Cyprus Weekly.

The energy ministry and the consortium were not immediately available to comment.

Turkish tantrums achieve nothing - UPSTREAM ONLINE

London, 1 Sep 2017 07:35 GMT

Nassir Shirkhani

Attempting to disrupt a drilling campaign off Cyprus with military threats reveals how isolated President Erdogan has become

IT IS deja-vu again off Cyprus. Turkey is once more flexing its military muscles in an apparent attempt to scare Cyprus into halting exploratory drilling off the divided Mediterranean island.

The latest sabre rattling relates to drilling in offshore Block 11 by the drillship West Capella on behalf of France’s Total and Italy’s Eni.

Ankara was quick to dispatch two frigates and a submarine to shadow the vessel before upping the ante last week by issuing two marine advisories (Navtex) reserving access to parts of Cyprus’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

Construction of Russia’s gas pipeline to Turkey going full steam ahead - RUSSIA TODAY

31 Aug, 2017 13:18

Gazprom said on Thursday 220 kilometers of the gas pipeline to Turkey has been laid under the Black Sea.

“The sea part of the project has seen 220 kilometers of two lines of pipes being laid,” said Gazprom CEO Aleksey Miller.

The Turkish Stream or TurkStream pipeline has been under construction since May this year. The pipeline will go from Russia’s Black Sea coast beneath the sea to Turkey, and extend to the border with Greece.

It will see two lines; the first will be for the Turkish market, the second for gas to the countries of South and South-Eastern Europe. Each line has a capacity of 15.75 billion cubic meters per year.

Greek gas-fired power at record output levels - POWER ENGINEERING INTERNATIONAL

08/30/2017
Diarmaid Williams

Heatwave conditions in Greece have led to the country relying increasingly on gas-fired power generation.

Gas power has, according to Platts, reached historically high levels as hydroelectric power continues to be impacted by the intensely hot conditions.

July production of 1.55 TWh from gas plant compared to 1.39 TWh last year and 877 GWh in July 2015, supported in the near term by a severe heatwave and longer term by falling gas prices.

News on ‘Onisiforos’ drilling anticipated soon - IN CYPRUS / CYPRUS WEEKLY

August 30, 2017

A clearer picture of the findings at the Cyprus’ Onisiforos-West 1 region of Block 11 is anticipated to emerge within the next few days.

As reported by Phileleftheros on Wednesday, drilling support work has been completed up to a depth of approximately 3,800 meters, and other surveys carried out up to a depth of 4,250 meters, where indications so far show the top of the field begins.

According to the paper’s sources, the indications so far are positive and the seismographic data and their interpretation, which led to the choice of the specific target, have been confirmed.

Israeli Petroleum Commission approves Karish field development plan - OIL & GAS JOURNAL / ENERGEAN OIL & GAS

HOUSTON, Aug. 30 2017
Tayvis Dunnahoe

Energean Oil & Gas SA is working to reach final investment decision before year end for its Karish and Tanin natural gas fields offshore Israel. Subsidiary Energean Israel expects to start gas production in 2020 from the fields’ combined 531 MMboe 2C resources, which include 2.7 tcf of gas and 41 MMboe of light hydrocarbon liquids (OGJ Online, Dec. 7, 2016).

The FDP, submitted in June, calls for three development wells on the Karish Main Development with a floating production, storage, and offloading vessel about 90 km offshore Israel (OGJ Online, June 20, 2017). Production capacity will be 400 MMcfd. The Karish development will require an estimated $1.3-1.5 billion.

Energean Israel owns 100% of Karish and Tanin fields, but comprises a 50-50 joint venture between Energean and Kerogen Capital.

Cyprus revisits FSRU solution 10 years after plan scrapped - TRADEWINDS

August 30th, 2017 18:49 GMT
Lucy Hine

Mediterranean wannabe gas importer Cyprus has returned to the idea of using a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) some 10 years after an earlier tender was scrapped.

Cyprus’ Natural Gas Public Co (Defa) has been granted government approval to buy LNG to provide gas to power stations controlled by the Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC).

Under the new proposal, LNG would be shipped into an FSRU moored off Vasilikos on the country’s central southern coastline.

IFC pledges USD 100 mn to oil and gas projects in Egypt - ENTERPRISE

Wednesday, 30 August 2017

IFC pledges USD 100 mn to oil and gas projects in Egypt: The International Finance Corporation has pledged USD 100 mn to oil and gas projects being carried out by major global firms in Egypt, an Investment and International Cooperation Ministry statement says (pdf). This comes as the World Bank Group’s executive board agreed to help fund projects worth a combined USD 500 mn in Egypt’s oil and gas sector, the statement says, without providing additional detail. 

Egypt signs oil and gas exploration deals with Shell, Apex - REUTERS

AUGUST 29, 2017 / 1:09 PM

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian Oil Minister Tarek El Molla has signed three oil and gas exploration deals for 16 new fields in the Western Desert worth at least $81.4 million in total with Royal Dutch Shell and the U.S.-based Apex International Energy.

The Petroleum Ministry said in a statement that the first deal would see Shell invest $35.5 million, and the other two would see Apex, which is operating in Egypt for the first time, invest a combined $45.9 million on two projects.

Companies exploring offshore gas field deals in Israel - THE ECONOMIC TIMES

Aug 29, 2017, 12.16 AM IST
Sanjeev Choudhary, ET Bureau

NEW DELHI: Indian energy firms are exploring investment opportunity in Israel’s offshore gas fields as well as possibilities of importing some of their advanced technologies as part of a larger effort between the two countries to strengthen energy ties following the recent visit by Prime Minister to the Middle East nation.  

A delegation of executives of ONGC Videsh Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum, led by an oil ministry official, visited Israel last week, to explore investment and technological opportunities.  

Sinopec Evaluating Projects in Egypt - EGYPT OIL & GAS

Monday, 28th August 2017
The Egyptian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Tarek El Molla, met with Sinopec’s Vice President, Ling Yiqun, to discuss joint cooperation and investments opportunities in Egypt’s hydrocarbon sector, Egypt Oil & Gas reports.

Noting Sinopec’s expertise, El Molla urged the Chinese company to continue to invest in Egypt’s hydrocarbon market.

For his part, Yiqun expressed the company’s interest in expanding its investments in Egypt and said that Sinopec is currently evaluating several promising petroleum projects in the country.

Libya's oil disruptions widen as two more fields halt output - WORLD OIL / BLOOMBERG

AUGUST/27/2017
SALMA EL WARDANY & HATEM MOHAREB

CAIRO (Bloomberg) -- Two more oil fields in Libya are being closed after an armed group took over pipelines to both deposits, further disrupting the OPEC nation’s plan to boost crude production.

El Feel, or Elephant, stopped production, Wessam Al-Messmari, an office manager for the Petroleum Facilities Guard that is protecting the field, said Sunday by phone. State-run National Oil Corp. declared force majeure at the deposit, according to a person familiar with the situation who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public.

The Hamada oil field will gradually stop pumping through Monday because of the pipeline closing, Arabian Gulf Oil Co. spokesman Omran al-Zwai said Sunday. Force majeure was also declared on Hamada, he said. Force majeure is a legal clause protecting a party from liability if it can’t fulfill a contract for reasons beyond its control. An armed group closed the pipelines to Hamada and El Feel, according to a person familiar with the situation.

Sisi reviews Zohr field’s development works with Eni’s CEO - EGYPT TODAY

Sun, Aug. 27, 2017

CAIRO – 27 August 2017: President Abdel-Fatah el-Sisi stressed on the importance of committing to the designed timeline for the start of production of Zohr natural gas field, according to a statement from the presidency on Sunday.

This came during Sisi’s meeting with Italian energy company Eni’s CEO Claudio Descalzi.

During the meeting, Descalzi reviewed his company’s works to develop the gas field and what have been achieved so far in terms of infrastructure, digging wells and establishing a control system, in cooperation with a number of Egyptian companies.

Descalzi said that his company seeks to swiftly develop the field so that it starts production by the end of this year.

Manufacturers looking to press gov’t once again on lowering gas prices - ENTERPRISE

Sunday, 27 August 2017

Manufacturers are looking to press the government once again on repricing natural gas to industry, with the Union of Egyptian Investors Associations planning to meet with Oil Ministry officials sometime in the next few days to push for the issue. An official from EGAS tells Al Mal that it is unlikely that the government will respond to their pleas, saying that it imports gas at a price of USD 7 per mmBTU and buys gas from local producers at a price of USD 6 per mmBTU. The official added that the government currently supplies manufacturers with gas at between USD 3-7 per mmBTU, depending on the industry. The Ismail cabinet had made a concession to steel factories last year, promising to lower the price to USD 4.5 from USD 7. Subsidizing inefficient industrial players at the same time as consumers pay more for energy would be political suicide.