Greece builds pipeline to transport natural gas from Caspian Sea - AL JAZEERA

27 October 2018

John Psaropoulos 

Greece is known for its history and climate, but not for oil and gas.

That may be about to change with a new pipeline (a five billion-dollar project) being completed across the north of the country that will transport natural gas from the Caspian Sea to Western Europe.

It's part of a European Union policy to move away from dependence on Russian gas after shipments were stopped for two weeks during the 2009 Ukraine crisis, causing shortages in southeastern Europe.

Al Jazeera's John Psaropoulos reports (2:22 video).

Eni flags likelihood of buyback next year as profits soar - REUTERS

OCTOBER 26, 2018 / 9:20 AM
Stephen Jewkes

MILAN (Reuters) - Italian oil major Eni (ENI.MI) flagged on Friday the likelihood of a share buyback next year after cash flow in the third quarter jumped and profits rose six-fold to beat expectations.

In a conference call with analysts, finance chief Massimo Mondazzi said a buyback was a priority, providing market conditions remained stable.

Over the last year the world’s top oil and gas companies have come under growing pressure to return more cash to shareholders as profits and oil prices get back on track after a three-year crunch.

“The trajectory is positive ... our aspiration is for a progressive dividend with a buyback, on condition our leverage stays below 20 percent,” Mondazzi said.

CYPRUS: Greece and Turkey fire warning shots over East Med energy plans - FINANCIAL MIRROR

EEZ delineation as per UNCLOS

26 October, 2018

A war of words between Athens and Ankara over East Med energy plans and territorial waters intensified on Friday when Turkey responded defiantly to a rebuke from Greece.

Continuing the row with with Greece over energy exploration in the eastern Mediterranean, Turkey on Friday said it would “continue to act in line with the equitable principles and all relevant special circumstances” in delimiting maritime jurisdiction.

“On the delimitation of maritime jurisdiction areas, Turkey will, as it has to date, continue to act in line with the equitable principles and all relevant special circumstances,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy said.

He was responding to a Greek Foreign Ministry statement saying it would not be dictated to by Turkey on what it decides to do.

“There is no advice that we would take from Greece over the delimitation techniques within the framework of international law,” Aksoy added.

Egypt to offer new production model to foreign oil and gas firms - INDIA TIMES / REUTERS

REUTERS | October 26, 2018, 15:57 IST

CAIRO: Egypt is working on a new production sharing model with foreign energy companies to encourage oil and gas exploration in deep waters, Petroleum Minister Tarek El Molla said on Thursday.

"We are thinking of having... a simpler way of having the calculations with our partners," Molla said during a US business meeting in Cairo.

"So far the feedback that we received from different partners is very positive and they are enthusiastic to participate in the bid round on this basis," he said.

Under the new model, companies will be offered a share of production in exchange for bearing the costs of exploration and production.

"It will be all together and one figure that includes cost recovery and the profit share of the partner, so we don't go towards what we call cost recovery audits, which sometimes take effort, (create) arguments between different departments and,...for new frontier areas, it wouldn't be encouraging."

Molla said that bigger oil companies wanted the new model especially for risky deepwater frontier areas in the Red Sea and the Mediterranean near the Libyan border that are coming up in the next two bid rounds.

TransGlobe Spuds on South Ghazalat - PETROLEUM AFRICA

Thursday, October 25, 2018

TransGlobe Energy spud its SGZ 6X well on the South Ghazalat concession in Egypt’s Western Desert. The well, the second exploration well in the concession, was spud on October 23.

The SGZ 6X is located on the eastern portion of the concession offsetting the Raml oil field in the Abu Gharadig basin. The SGZ 6X prospect is targeting stacked Cretaceous oil targets similar to the producing Raml and SW Raml fields.

On TransGlobe’s South Alamein concession, also in the Western Desert, the company received notification from the military that access will be granted to drill the South Alamein 24X (SA 24X) Jurassic exploration prospect. It has submitted the required documentation and is awaiting final written approval which is expected prior to year-end. Concurrently, the company initiated preparations to drill SA 24X as part of the 2019 exploration program.

Egypt’s Enppi and Petrojet complete 60% of Jordan natgas network expansion - ENTERPRISE

Wednesday, 24 October 2018

State energy companies Enppi and Petrojet have completed 60% of a project to expand the natural gas network in Jordan, Oil Minister Tarek El Molla said, according to Ahram Online. The two companies are expected to inaugurate the project in October 2019. 

We had previously noted that Enppi and EGAS are building a 17 km steel pipeline for the Jordanian-Egyptian Fajr for Natural Gas Transport and Supply Company that should be complete by 2020, but it remains unclear whether this is the project Molla was referring to.

Significant Gains at Abu-Attifel Field - PETROLEUM AFRICA

Tuesday, October 23, 2018

Libya’s NOC reported that Mellitah Oil & Gas (MOG) has made “significant gains” at the Abu-Attifel oilfield. These gains come despite the security issues and logistical constraints the company faces at the oilfield.

MOG completed operating tests for a TC5 Solar Gas Turbine on October 13. This equipment is part of an impactful low-pressure flare project increasing low-pressure well gas production which then transfers to a LNG plant. The project has succeeded in increasing condensate quantities by 2,000 bpd to 9,500 bpd and reduced the proportion of ‘off-gas’ flaring to zero.

The National Drilling and Well Maintenance Company, owned by NOC, also helped MOG complete the maintenance of well No 56, restoring it to the production of 4,800 bpd of oil and approximately 9 Mmcf/d. The maintenance of well No A49 is expected to complete before the end of the year, thereby raising production by a further 1,000 bpd.

Israel Plans to Export Too Much Natural Gas, Leading Geologist Says - HAARETZ

Oct 23, 2018 6:54 PM

Eran Azran

Yossi Langotsky, the geologist who predicted the discovery of Israel’s major natural gas reserves, has criticized his country’s plans to export nearly half its gas discovered to date.

“There are no more chances of finding major gas reserves in Israel,” he told TheMarker in response to comments by government officials that Israel could export current volumes and simply find more.

Langotsky was also responding to remarks by a senior researcher for the Institute for National Security Studies, Oded Eran, who told TheMarker last week that exporting gas to Egypt was important for Israel’s energy economy as well as its geopolitical and security interests.

Eran said Israel was unlikely to be able to export gas to Turkey or Europe, thus Egypt was the only real option aside from the local market.

“The export deals with Egypt are shortsighted and irresponsible — Israel has some 1 trillion cubic meters of gas,” Langotsky said, noting that the Tzemach committee charged with charting Israel’s natural gas economy in 2012 called for exporting a bit under half the 1 trillion.

Blue Water Energy LLP to partner with Apex International Energy - BLUE WATER ENERGY LLP

Houston, 22 October 2018

Apex International Energy, an independent oil and gas exploration and production company focused on Egypt and other Middle Eastern and North African countries (“MENA”), today announced that affiliates of Blue Water Energy LLP (BWE or Blue Water Energy) have agreed to partner with Apex and join the existing investors: Warburg Pincus LLC, International Finance Corporation (IFC) and company management.

Apex is primarily focused on pursuing acquisitions and drilling opportunities in MENA, with an initial focus on Egypt. The Company will continue to acquire assets and licenses, whilst driving value creation through the execution of production optimization opportunities, developments and exploration opportunities of scale. Blue Water Energy, Warburg Pincus LLC and the IFC are jointly providing funding to support Apex’s investment program, including drilling, asset acquisitions and corporate transactions.

Eni starts drilling two new wells at Zohr - ENTERPRISE

Monday, 22 October 2018

Italy’s Eni began started drilling two additional wells at the offshore Zohr natural gas field as it prepares to raise output to its 2.7 bcf/d plateau next year, an unnamed source from EGAS tells Al Shorouk. 

The addition brings the total number of wells in the project to 13. Sources said that work on them should be complete within a month and will determine how many other wells Eni will need to drill to hits its target. 

Eni had announced plans earlier this month to increase its investments in the Zohr gas field to USD 16 bn, up from USD 12 bn, by the time it completes the field’s development in July 2019. Production from the field hit 2 bcf/d last month.

SDX, BP fail to reach agreement on Egypt assets - ENTERPRISE

Sunday, 21 October 2018

BP talks to sell Egypt assets to SDX fail. SDX Energy has “terminated” talks to acquire BP’s Egypt assets after failing to reach an agreement, the company said in a statement on Thursday (pdf). SDX gave no color on why the talks broke down. SDX Energy announced last month that it was in open talks with BP to acquire “a significant package of [its] assets in Egypt.” It was not not immediately clear which assets SDX hoped to acquire, but the company said the transaction would take the form of a reverse takeover, allowing SDX entry to the London Stock Exchange’s main market. BP had been said to be shopping for buyers since at least March as part of a plan to sell USD 2-3 bn’s worth of maturing assets this year.

BP isn’t exiting Egypt: The global oil major plans to invest USD 2 bn in Egypt next year, BP North Africa Regional President Hesham Mekawi told Al Shorouk in an interview last month. Among the assets in which it is investing is its Raven field, which is part of its West Nile concessions in Fayoum and Giza. The Raven gas field is expected to come online in 2H2019, a source from the Oil Ministry official told Youm7 on Thursday. Production is expected to reach 350 mcf/d of gas.