Egypt's Giant Zohr Gas Field Starts Production - BLOOMBERG

Tarek El-Molla(Photographer: Yasser Al-Zayet/AFP via Getty Images

December 16, 2017, 3:34 PM GMT+2

Salma El Wardany

• Field starts pumping gas to Egypt national network: El-Molla
• Zohr field may turn Egypt from LNG importer to gas exporter

Egypt’s Eni SpA-operated Zohr natural gas field has started production, bringing the country closer to its goal of energy self-sufficiency.

Gas from the Mediterranean’s largest offshore field is pumped to a facility in Port Said city, to be prepared for delivery to the national distribution network, with initial production of 350 million cubic feet per day, oil minister Tarek El-Molla said in a statement Saturday. Daily output is set to rise to about 1 billion cubic feet in June and 2.7 billion by the end of 2019, he said.

Production from Zohr will help the most populous Arab nation achieve “self-sufficiency of natural gas, ease the burden on the state budget and cut the imports bill," El-Molla said.

Cyprus, Egypt, Greece agree to bolster maritime security - ABC NEWS

Cyprus' Defense Minister Christoforos Fokaides (center), Greek counterpart Panos Kammenos (right), and Egyptian Defense Minister Sedki Sobhi (left) in Cyprus on Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017. 

Dec 14, 2017, 9:54 AM ET

By MENELAOS HADJICOSTIS, ASSOCIATED PRESS LARNACA, Cyprus

The defense ministers of Cyprus, Egypt and Greece agreed Thursday to step up cooperation in combating drug, weapons and people trafficking in the east Mediterranean and to share information on countering the threat of terrorism.

Cypriot Defense Minister Christoforos Fokaides and his Egyptian and Greek counterparts Sedki Sobhi and Panos Kammenos said that they're also setting up a coordinating body to oversee joint special forces drills geared toward protecting vital sea lanes in the eastern Mediterranean.

East Med Pipeline To Boost Europe's Energy Security - PIPELINE TECHNOLOGY JOURNAL

Thu, 2017-DEC-14 12:49
Admir Celovic - Mark Iden

In yet another effort to enhance European energy security by diversifying sources away from Russia, a consortium of countries including Cyprus, Italy, Greece and Israel will build an 1900 km gas pipeline from the Levantine Basin in the eastern Mediterranean to Greece and Italy in 2025.

The East Med Pipeline, as it is being called, would ship up to 16 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas a year, roughly 5 percent of the EU annual consumption.

IGI Poseidon, a joint venture by Italian firm Edison and Greek company Depa, will build the pipeline - the longest underwater one in the world - at a cost of over €4 billion.

The EU has indicated that it will defray $2 billion, of half the cost, of the construction.

Cyprus, Israel, Italy and Greece intend to sign a binding intergovernmental agreement in 2018.

Total, Eni, Novatek win first Lebanon offshore licenses - WORLD OIL / BLOOMBERG

DEC/14/2017DANA KHRAICHE

BEIRUT (Bloomberg) -- Lebanon granted its first offshore energy rights to a group comprising Total SA, Eni SpA and Novatek PJSC, joining a regional race to find and develop oil and natural gas wealth in the eastern Mediterranean after years of delay.

The cabinet awarded two licenses in its first offshore bidding round, allowing the companies to jointly explore Blocks 4 and 9, Wissam Chbat, a member of the Lebanese Petroleum Administration, said Thursday by phone. The group has one month to prepare legal, administrative and technical paperwork before signing production-sharing contracts with the government in January, Chbat said. Drilling is expected to begin in 2019, he said.

France’s Total, Italy’s Eni and Russia’s Novatek filed their bids to explore the two blocks in October -- the only proposals the government received. The licensing round has encountered setbacks since 2013 amid political disputes over block delineation and government paralysis, leaving Lebanon trailing Cyprus, Egypt and Israel in exploring the eastern Mediterranean. This year bidding was pushed back to give companies more time to understand a new tax law.

Energean awarded five exploration licences, offshore Israel - ENERGEAN OIL & GAS

13 December 2017

Energean Oil & Gas (“Energean” or “the Company”) is pleased to announce that Energean Israel has been awarded five offshore exploration licences (“Licences”) within the Israeli Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) by the Israeli Petroleum Commissioner following a recommendation by the Petroleum Council. The initial exploration period under each Licence is three years. 

Oil Ministry expecting Egypt’s natgas output to reach 6.4 bcf/d by mid-2018 - ENTERPRISE

Mid Case Supply / Demand forecast for Egypt (Bcfd)

Wednesday, 13 December 2017

Egypt’s natural gas output is expected to reach 6.4 bcf/d by mid-2018, by which time Zohr will be producing 750 mcf/d and the Nooros gas field will be producing 100 mcf/d, Oil Ministry sources tell Al Borsa. 

Oil Minister Tarek El Molla had previously said natural gas output will reach 6.2 bcf/d by the end of FY2017-18, and that Egypt will reach self-sufficiency by the end of 2018. 

Egypt currently produces 5.2 bcf/d of natural gas.

Energy market in transition - CYPRUS MAIL

DEC 10, 2017

Charles Ellinas

The Energy market in transition was the title of the 22nd national energy conference held in Athens last month and attended by more than 300 delegates – heads of all energy institutions in the country, universities and CEOs of the leading energy companies and leading international participants.

The transformation of the Greek energy market emerged as the dominant topic of the conference. In his keynote speech Minister of Environment and Energy, Giorgos Stathakis confirmed that the ministry is preparing a long-term energy plan to 2030, which will present the policy and basic strategic directions of national energy planning.

Noble Enegry discussing pipeline from Aphrodite to Egyptian LNG plants / AL MASRY AL YOUM

Sunday, 10 December 2017

It looks like Noble Energy is trying to make a play for the potential gas pipeline linking Cyprus’ offshore gas fields to Egypt’s processing facilities, Al Masry Al Youm reports. The group’s senior Vice President of the Eastern Mediterranean area Keith Elliott met with Oil Minister Tarek El Molla to discuss this and other potential energy projects on Saturday.

EGPC signs 3 oil and gas exploration agreements worth USD 50 mn - ENTERPRISE / AL BORSA

Sunday, 10 December 2017

The EGPC has signed oil and gas exploration agreements with three international companies worth a combined USD 50 mn, an Oil Ministry official tells Al Borsa. These include a USD 20 mn oil and gas exploration agreement with our friends at Apex International in the West Badr El Din concession in the Western Desert, a USD 10 mn gas exploration agreement with Trident Petroleum for exploration in the Magawish block of the East Esh El Mallaha concession, and a USD 20 mn oil and gas exploration agreement with Apache-Khalda in the Alam El Shawish concession in the Western Desert.