Greece-Israel-Cyprus summit brought forward - KATHIMERINI

SATURDAY AUGUST 18, 2018, 10:07

VASSILIS NEDOS

This fall’s planned trilateral summit in Jerusalem between Greece, Cyprus and Israel at the foreign ministry level has been brought forward to September 13.

The meeting between Greece’s Nikos Kotzias, Cyprus’s Nikos Christodoulides and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who holds his government’s foreign affairs portfolio, will take place amid increased gas exploration activity in the Eastern Mediterranean and Turkish plans to drill in the region.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly made his intention clear that Turkey will not be left out of the new energy balance in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Ankara says the solution to the decades-old Cyprus problem hinges on the way natural gas reserves off the island’s coast will be exploited.

Meanwhile, the Medusa joint aeronautical exercise between Greece and Egypt is expected to begin in coming days south of the island of Crete.

Israel's offshore blocks reserve could prompt change in natural gas export policy - PLATTS

17 Aug 2018 | 12:22 UTC
Authors: Fabio Reale, Neal Sandler; Editor: Daniel Lalor;

Tel Aviv — The five new Israeli offshore blocks awarded last year to Energean have a potential reserve of 126 Bcm, according to an initial analysis conducted by Netherland, Sewell & Associates (NSAI), the Greek exploration company said. The estimates added a significant amount to Israel's resource base potential and could contribute to a change in the current 40% export limit and higher exports to Egypt or Turkey.

The Karish and Tanin offshore fields, which Energean is developing has proven natural gas reserves of 86 Bcm. In February, producers Delek and Noble signed a 10-year deal with Egypt's Dolphinius Holdings for the LNG re-export of 64 Bcm of gas from Tamar and Leviathan offshore fields from early 2019.

"We have a contingent commitment to conduct exploratory drilling in the new blocks," Energean CEO Mathios Rigas said. The five blocks are 12, 21, 22, 23 and 31.

Independent certification of reserves and resources in Israel - ENERGEAN OIL & GAS

London, 16 August 2018

Energean Oil and Gas plc (LSE: ENOG), the independent oil and gas exploration and production company focused on the Eastern Mediterranean, is pleased to announce that it has received an updated independent Competent Persons Report from Netherland Sewell & Associates (“NSAI”) for its Israeli portfolio. The updated CPR includes the certification of 63 bcm (2.2 Tcf) of 2P reserves and 7.5 Tcf of gross prospective resources and is the first assessment of prospective resources in the new Blocks (12, 21, 22, 23 and 31) that were awarded as part of the recent offshore licencing round.

The updated CPR includes 63 bcm (2.2 Tcf) of gas and 31.8 million barrels of liquids (gross, Energean 70%) of 2P reserves in the Karish and Tanin fields. Energean’s independently certified net 2P reserves are now 349 mmboe, an increase from the 51 mmboe estimated when Energean undertook its London Stock Exchange listing in March 2018.

Contingent resources in the Karish field of 5.4 bcm (0.2 Tcf) of gas and 1.0 million barrels of liquids (Gross, Energean 70%) are recognised. Remaining contingent resource relates to the Karish B reservoir. Overall 2P reserves plus contingent resources across the Karish and Tanin leases remain the same.

Eni signs concession agreement to begin exploration at offshore Noor gas field - ENTERPRISE

Wednesday, 15 August 2018

Eni signs concession agreement to begin exploration at offshore Noor gas field: Eni announced yesterday signing a new concession agreement with the Egyptian government to begin exploration activities at the offshore Noor gas field in the East Mediterranean, the company said in a statement (pdf). The USD 105 mn agreement will see Eni drill two exploratory wells in the 739 sqm field during 2H2018. Eni holds an 85% stake in the concession alongside Tharwa Petroleum Company, which holds 15%. Eni had denied last month that it made a massive gas discovery at the Noor gas field, after news reports suggested that Noor could contain around 90 tcf of gas reserves, or 3x as much gas as the supergiant Zohr field. Egyptian Oil Minister Tarek El Molla had also downplayed the reports at the time, saying that seismic studies were not yet complete.

Did Israel just back our quest to become the region’s premier energy hub? - ENTERPRISE

Wednesday, 15 August 2018

Israel’s foreign ministry gave our quest to become the East Med’s gas export hub a huge pat on the back at the expense of Turkey. A classified report from Israel’s Foreign Ministry has recommended that Israel rely on exporting its natural gas to Europe through Egypt, rather than Turkey, according to Ynet News (Hebrew). According to the report, Egypt is the best option on the economic, political, and strategic fronts than Turkey, which is “a dangerous and volatile player,” and is also preferable to Greece.

The endorsement casts shade on an EU-endorsed pipeline that would run from the East Mediterranean through Turkey — the rival proposal to exporting the gas to Europe from Egypt. Energy analysts have long complained that the pipeline was not cost effective compared with the Egypt option. Regional politics and tensions between Israel, Cyprus and Turkey have also dimmed the prospects of the pipeline. Not to mention the fact that plans to export from Egypt are already underway with international agreements having been signed, including the USD 800 mn-1 bn pipeline.

Revealed: ExxonMobil's private dinner with Cyprus' top EU brass - EU OBSERVER

De Warande

BRUSSELS, 14 AUGUST 2018, 06:56
PETER TEFFER

Oil and gas firm ExxonMobil recently hosted Cypriot MEPs, Cyprus' highest EU diplomat and EU commissioner Christos Stylianides at a dinner in a private club in Brussels, to inform them about its offshore drilling plans near Cyprus.

However, no record was made of what was said at the out-of-hours private event, causing concern for campaigners on the question of the EU's transparency and accountability on meetings with lobbyists.

The dinner, held in April, was confirmed by all parties - but only after EUobserver asked the European Commission for information about the meeting in an access to documents request.

The commission's register of meetings had merely stated that Stylianides – a Cypriot – had a meeting with ExxonMobil about "update of exploration activities offshore Cyprus".

LNG back in the limelight - CYPRUS MAIL

AUGUST 12, 2018
Charles Ellinas

With Noble, Delek and Shell requesting to renegotiate their Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) with Cyprus, and particularly the formula for sharing potential profits, LNG is back in the limelight in Cyprus. But how is LNG faring in a world with a glut of energy supplies, brought about by the inexorable increase in renewable energy?

This was the subject of recently released Global Annual Reports by the International Group of LNG Importers (GIIGNL) and the International Gas Union (IGU) on the performance of the LNG industry in 2017, and they make a very interesting reading.

Global LNG imports in 2017 recorded their highest annual growth rate since 2010, at 9.9 per cent, reaching 289.8 million tonnes. New liquefaction capacity continued to come online in various areas of the world ranging from the US to Australia, Malaysia and Russia, leading to a 26.2 million tonnes/yr increase in LNG supply compared with 2016.

Expectations of an LNG surplus did not materialise, as, among other factors, rising imports into China contributed substantially to balance the market.

Key conclusions are:

Jordan, Egypt ink agreement on gas supply resumption - ENTERPRISE

Sunday, 12 August 2018

Oil Minister Tarek El Molla and his Jordanian counterpart Hala Zawati renewed a natural gas sale and purchase agreement, under which Cairo will export 10% of Amman’s natural gas needs, Jordan Times reports. 

Both sides reportedly signed the initial agreement in 2014 but Egypt failed to meet the amount of natural gas it was agreed to provide. 

“Egypt provided Jordan with 250 mcf of natural gas daily since 2004, but these amounts started decreasing at the end of 2009 until they were completely halted in 2011 after attacks on the Arab Gas Pipeline,” the Jordanian energy minister said. 

Zawati also met with Electricity Minister Mohamed Shaker over cooperation on electricity connection and exchange, as well as exchanging expertise in the fields of energy and renewable energy, according to a ministry statement.