A Storm Is Brewing In The Southern Gas Corridor - OIL PRICE

Jun 23, 2018, 4:00 PM CDT

Vanand Meliksetian

No fewer than Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko attended a gathering in Central Turkey on 12 June. The amount and variety of attendees of this meeting reveal a common interest in one field of geopolitical developments: energy and more specifically natural gas.

The opening ceremony of the 1.850 kilometers long Trans Anatolian Pipeline, TANAP, starting at the Shah Deniz gas field in Azerbaijan and ending in Turkey, is the last step before connecting to the European grid in Greece and Italy. TANAP is part of the Southern Gas Corridor, which was the dream of many European leaders and officials to create an alternative to Russian gas.

Cyprus, Israel, Greece pledge deeper military ties - ABC NEWS / ASSOCIATED PRESS

Lieberman (L), Angelides (C), Kammenos (R)

Larnaca, Cyprus — Jun 22, 2018, 11:28 AM ET

Menelaos Hadjicostis

Cyprus, Israel and Greece must forge deeper military ties to improve security and more effectively counter common threats in a turbulent region, the countries' defense ministers said Friday.

Cypriot Minister Savvas Angelides and his Israeli and Greek counterparts Avigdor Lieberman and Panos Kammenos said they also seek to expand cooperation on cybersecurity, joint military drills and search and rescue operations in the eastern Mediterranean.

The Israeli defense minister said the threat of terror attacks and the challenges posed by illegal migration in a region he called "an ocean of violence" where "rogue states" operate must be met collectively.

"It's much better to counter regional threats together," Lieberman told a news conference. He also said Israel will host the ministers' next trilateral meeting.

The ministers also hailed the first conference bringing together Cypriot, Greek and Israeli companies active in the military industry.

Palestinians in talks with int'l co to develop Marine gas field - GLOBES

21 Jun, 2018 20:16
Amiram Barkat and Sonia Gorodeisky

The gas produced from the reservoir will be used to operate the power station in Gaza and another 450-megawatt power station to be built in Jenin.

Almost 20 years after it was discovered, the Palestinian Authority (PA) will try to develop the Gaza Marine natural gas reservoir located off the coast of the Gaza Strip by itself, sources inform "Globes." In the past, the PA asked Israel for the use of the state's gas transmission infrastructure, and the matter is currently being discussed. The sources add that the owners of the rights in the reservoir are negotiating with an international drilling operator to develop and operate the reservoir.

According to the plan, the gas produced from the reservoir will be used to operate the power station in the Gaza Strip and another 450-megawatt power station slated for construction in the Jenin area. In addition to local consumption, the Palestinians are trying to find customers for their gas in the region in order to reach a minimum amount of demand for gas that will justify development of the reservoir. Costs of developing gas reservoirs have recently fallen, thereby making it easier to carry out plans.

ENI Finalizes Lucrative Shorouk Stake Sale - PETROLEUM AFRICA

Thursday, June 21, 2018

ENI finalized the sale of a 10% stake in its Shorouk concession to Mubadala Petroleum, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mubadala Investment Company. The Shorouk concession is located offshore Egypt, holding the massive Zohr gas field.

Following a record start-up less than two and a half years from discovery, the project is now in its ramp-up phase with the aim of reaching 2 Bcf/d of total installed treatment capacity by the end of the year, and a production plateau of 2.7 Bcf/d by the end of 2019.

Claudio Descalzi, ENI CEO said: “We welcome today’s announcement with Mubadala Petroleum, a strong and reliable partner with whom we look forward to working with. Working alongside significant partners such as Mubadala Petroleum, BP and Rosneft is a further boost for the development of Zohr and underlines the quality of the asset, which will play a fundamental role in supporting Egypt’s goal of achieving energy independence.”

"Catastrophic Damage" in Fighting at Ras Lanuf Terminal - THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

Tank roof burns, Ras Lanuf, June 16 (National Oil Company)

2018-06-21 14:32:43Amer Hammuda

On Wednesday, Libya's National Oil Corporation reported "catastrophic damage" to two of the five tanks at the Ras Lanuf oil terminal due to fighting between militia groups.

The damage resulted in a 400,000-barrel reduction in crude oil storage capacity (from 950,000 barrels to 550,000 barrels), and the NOC said that Tank 2 is in danger of leaking and spreading the fire to the three surviving tanks. Ras Lanuf's terminal once had about a dozen tanks, but the long series of conflicts since the end of the Gaddafi era have destroyed all but a few.

The so-called Petroleum Facilities Guard militia attacked the terminals at Ras Lanuf and Es Sider on June 14. The group controlled the terminals until last year, when they were seized from by forces loyal to Gen. Khalifa Haftar, who controls the eastern half of Libya. The attack forced the NOC to evacuate employees, declare force majeure and suspend loadings, cutting Libya's daily oil export volume in half.

One employee was shot and injured during the attack on the terminal, and several more were robbed, NOC reported. All others were evacuated safely.

Mubadala unit acquires 10% stake in offshore Egyptian gas field - ARABIAN BUSINESS

Dr Bakheet Al Katheeri, CEO, Mubadala Petroleum.

Wed 20 Jun 2018 03:39 PM GST

Mubadala Petroleum completes acquisition from Italy's Eni of the interest in the Shorouk concession in Egypt, which contains the giant Zohr gas field

Mubadala Petroleum has announced that it has completed the acquisition from Italy’s Eni of a 10 percent interest in the offshore Shorouk concession in Egypt, which contains the giant Zohr gas field.

Following the completion, Eni, through its subsidiary IEOC, holds a 50 percent interest in the concession. The other partners in the concession are BP with 10 percent interest and Rosneft with 30 percent interest.

The Zohr field was discovered by Eni in August 2015 and is the largest natural gas field ever found in the Mediterranean, with a total potential of up to 30 trillion cubic feet of gas in place.

The field is currently producing over 1.1 billion cubic feet of gas per day (bcfd), equivalent to approximately 200,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. Production is expected to increase to 2 bcfd by end 2018 and to reach a production plateau of 2.7 bcfd by end 2019.

Europe: Cyprus to launch tender for FSRU purchase - BUNKERSPOT

20.06.2018

The floating storage regasification unit (FSRU), which will be permanently stationed in Vasilikos harbour, is expected to facilitate LNG bunkering.

The FSRU is a key component of the CyprusGas2EU project, which falls under the European Union’s (EU) CYnergy project that aims to promote the uptake of natural gas in Cyprus and the development of a sustainable and fully functional natural gas market.

In a keynote address during a workshop in Nicosia earlier this week, Energy Minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis, who revealed that a separate tender for the import of LNG would be launched by the end of the year, said that Cyprus2GasEU had received €101 million in funding from the EU for the €250 million project.

‘Essentially, we shall be able, where necessary, to trade LNG between the infrastructures at Vasilikos and the [LNG terminal] at Revythousa in Greece,’ Lakkotrypis was quoted as saying by Cyprus Mail.

SDX Energy reports gas discovery in Egypt's South Disouq Concession - WORLD OIL

JUNE/19/2018

LONDON -- SDX Energy Inc., the North Africa focused oil and gas company, has announced that a gas discovery has been made at its SD-4X well in the South Disouq Concession, Egypt (SDX 55% working interest and operator).

The SD-4X well was drilled to a TD of 7,806 ft and encountered 89 ft of net conventional natural gas pay in the Abu Madi horizon, which had an average porosity in the pay section of 24%. The well came in on prognosis with a reservoir section of similar quality but thicker than the original SD-1X discovery well.

The well will be completed as a producer in the Abu Madi and then tested after the drilling rig has moved off location. The testing is anticipated to commence between 30 and 45 days after the rig departs, depending on the availability of testing equipment. Assuming a successful test, it is anticipated that the well will be connected to the infrastructure located adjacent to the original SD-1X discovery, where production start-up is anticipated late in fourth-quarter 2018. After completion, the rig will move to the SD-3X well which is the second of two appraisal locations included in the 2018 development program.

Total confirms interest in expanding in Cyprus - CYPRUS MAIL

Total's Stephane Michel at the presidential palace on Tuesday

JUNE 19, 2018  

Elias Hazou

French oil and gas giant Total is interested in broadening its presence in Cyprus’ hydrocarbons space, president Nicos Anastasiades said on Tuesday after seeing a senior executive of the company.

“There is an ongoing positive consultation,” Anastasiades told reporters following a meeting at the presidential palace with Stephane Michel, head of Total’s Middle East and North Africa Exploration & Production.

Energy minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis, present at the meeting with Michel, confirmed that the French multinational is interested in expanding their activities in Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

Asked whether Total wanted to buy into licensed acreages other than block 8, he said: “There is an interest broadly speaking, there are various ways in which the company wants to expand.

“This development absolutely satisfies us.”

Total recently applied to acquire a 50 per cent stake in block 8, licensed to ENI.

Delek, Noble, Egyptian partner in talks to acquire stake in EMG - ENTERPRISE

Tuesday, 19 June 2018

Delek, Noble, Egyptian partner in talks to acquire stake in EMG, which could quash outstanding arbitration ruling: The stars appear to be aligning in favor of an agreement that could see Egypt become a hub for East Mediterranean gas and end a long-standing arbitration case. Israel’s Delek, its Texas-based partner on the Leviathan gas field in Israel Noble Energy, and an unnamed Egyptian partner are in advanced talks to close on the acquisition of a 37% stake in the East Mediterranean Gas Company (EMG), which owns a pipeline that had once been used to transport Egyptian LNG to Israel, people familiar with the matter tell Bloomberg.

Clearing the way for gas imports from Israel: The stakes under discussion include those currently owned by businessmen Sam Zell and Yossi Maiman, who along with Israel Electric Corporation, successfully won arbitration cases against Egypt for cutting off natural gas exports to Israel in favor of domestic consumption back in 2012. If completed, the transaction would make the consortium the largest voting bloc in EGM, and potentially clearing the biggest legal hurdle standing against Egypt importing gas from Israel. As we noted last week, Delek shareholders will meet on 1 July to vote on investing USD 200 mn to buy EMG.

SDX announces spud of SRM-3 oil well in Egypt - OIL REVIEW MIDDLE EAST

Sunday, 17 June 2018 06:39

SDX Energy Inc, the North Africa-focused oil and gas firm, has announced to spud its SRM-3 appraisal well at South Ramadan, Egypt, where SDX has a 12.75 per cent working interest

The SRM-3 well is the last remaining commitment well on the South Ramadan concession. The well is anticipated to take up to 90 days to drill and complete. Based upon the results of this well SDX will decide how to optimise its position in the licence.

London-headquartered SDX is a continual player in North Africa’s oil and gas sector. In May 2018, the company achieved positive results of the well test conducted on the Ibn Yunus 1X well, following the conventional natural gas discovery at South Disouq, Egypt.

Apart from Egypt, SDX has a significant presence in Morocco’s oil and gas sector as well. It made a conventional natural gas discovery at the LMS-1 exploration well on the Lalla Mimouna permit in Morocco, where the company has 75 per cent stake.

Referring to oil and gas activities in North African nations, Paul Welch, president and CEO of SDX, said that the company remain optimistic about further positive news flow as we move towards delivering the first gas from the licence before the end of 2018.

In 2017, the company was awarded gas discovery at KSR-14 and KSR-15 well on the Sebou area in Morocco. In 2016, SDX Energy and Dana Petroleum commenced drilling operations on its high-impact exploration well on Bakassi West in Cameroon, Central Africa’s major oil and gas project.