Tsipras-Netanyahu talks focus on EastMed pipeline - KATHIMERINI

03.11.2018 : 12:19

Stavros Papantoniou

PHOTO: (L-R) Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, Serbian President Alexander Vucic, Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dancila, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pose for a picture after a press briefing during the Quadrilateral Summit Greece-Bulgaria-Romania-Serbia at Evsinograd Palace in Varna, Friday.

The “large geopolitical significance” of the EastMed pipeline, which will transfer natural gas from the Eastern Mediterranean to Europe, was stressed by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras during his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Bulgarian seaside resort of Varna on Friday.

Tsipras, who met the Israeli premier on the sidelines of a Balkan summit of Greek, Bulgarian, Romanian and Serbian leaders, said the project is of “financial and geopolitical high value.”

At the same time, Tsipras and Netanyahu also discussed the upgrade of the northern Greek port city of Thessaloniki into a Balkan hub of innovation with the participation of Israeli businesses which are already active there.

Tsipras also referred to the benefits to Southeastern Europe that will come from the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB) natural gas pipeline, which will link Alexandroupoli to Bulgaria. In addition he spoke about other road and rail projects that will link countries in the Balkan region.

Cyprus urges Turkey to cooperate on energy, but peace first - THE WASHINGTON POST /ASSOCIATED PRESS

President Anastasiades, Republic of Cyprus

November 2, 2018
Menelaos Hadjicostis 

NICOSIA, Cyprus — Cyprus is ready to work with Turkey on exploiting the east Mediterranean’s potential oil and gas wealth, as long as the ethnically split island nation is reunified, the country’s president said Friday.

Big gas reserves have been found around Cyprus and the country, which is a member of the European Union, is already working with Egypt and Israel. Turkey says it’s entitled to its share of any potential gas reserves and has launched a search of its own. But Nicos Anastasiades insisted that the prerequisite for joining this regional energy cooperation will have to be the reunification of Cyprus, which has been split since 1974

Note: Formerly a 90% Christian area, the occupied northern part of Cyprus now comprises 100% of illegal Muslim Turkish settlers and the Turkish Cypriot minority; the colonization continues unabated.

“We continue to upgrade our energy cooperation with countries in the eastern Mediterranean and in Europe and certainly, I underscore this, with Turkey in the event of a Cyprus settlement,” Anastasiades told a conference Friday.

Exxon Mobil drillship arrives in Limassol on November 12 - KNEWS / KATHIMERINI

01 NOVEMBER 2018 - 13:30

Preparations are underway for Exxon Mobil’s drilling at Block 10 in the Cypriot exclusive economic zone south of the island.

Already, four support vessels are awaiting for the drillship in Limassol port.

The drillship called Stena IceMAX is, according to Aberdeen based Stena Drilling, the world’s first dynamically positioned, dual mast ice-class drillship with a length of 228 meters. The Stena IceMAX is a harsh environment DP Class 3 drillship capable of drilling in water depths up to 3000 meters. The vessel operates under UK flag.

Its arrival is expected next Monday, November 12. The target is a location named ''Delphini’’ in Block 10.

Greece's Gastrade launches market test for Alexandroupoli LNG terminal - KATHIMERINI

WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 31, 2018, 10:41

Greek natural gas company Gastrade on Tuesday launched a market test for a liquified natural gas terminal it is developing in northern Greece.

Companies interested in seeking services and capacity in the terminal must submit non-binding expressions of interest within 45 days, it said.

Greece currently has one LNG terminal on an islet off Athens. Gastrade, part of Greek energy group Copelouzos, is planning Greece’s second LNG terminal near the northern city of Alexandroupoli.

The facility, with an estimated annual capacity of 6.1 billion cubic metres (bcm), will seek to supply gas to southeastern Europe via another natural gas pipeline scheme that will cross through Greece, the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB).

The IGB and the LNG terminal would then fit with the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), which has been under construction to transport Caspian gas to European markets.

Turkey begins oil and gas search that could stoke tensions - ABC NEWS /ASSOCIATED PRESS

ANTALYA, Turkey — Oct 31, 2018, 11:16 AM ET
LEFTERIS PITARAKIS AND MENELAOS HADJICOSTIS

Turkey embarked on a search for oil and gas in the east Mediterranean on Wednesday in a move that could stoke regional tensions, with the country warning it would thwart "unilateral, illegitimate and unfair" actions against its interests.

The drillship 'Conquerer' — named after Ottoman Sultan Mehmet, who conquered Constantinople — began exploratory drilling off Antalya, on Turkey's southern coast.

The country is asserting itself in the east Mediterranean to signal that it won't be left out of a potential offshore gas bonanza as neighboring Cyprus is poised to renew exploratory drilling off its southern shores. ExxonMobil is scheduled to start drilling in one of 13 blocks inside Cyprus' [declared] exclusive economic zone by year's end.

Turkey doesn't recognize Cyprus as a state and opposes its gas search, which it says infringes on its rights to oil and gas reserves and ignores the rights of breakaway Turkish Cypriots to the ethnically split island's natural resources. Turkey also says that its continental shelf overlaps part of Cyprus' exclusive economic zone.

Greece’s Energean on track for Israeli field development in Q1 2021 - NEW EUROPE

OCTOBER 30, 2018,14:30

Greece’s independent oil and gas exploration and production company Energean Oil and Gas announced on October 29 the first day of dealings of the Group’s shares on its secondary listing on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE).

Energean is the first London listed, international oil and gas operator to list its shares on the TASE, the company said.

According to the company, delivery of the Karish and Tanin gas development, offshore Israel, remains on track for first gas in the first quarter of 2021. The fields would provide energy security and supplying gas to the Israeli domestic market, Energean said, adding that first steel cut for Energean’s floating production storage and offloading (FPSO), the only FPSO in the East Mediterranean, is scheduled for November 26, 2018.

Egypt to become energy center in Eastern Mediterranean: Min. - EGYPT TODAY

Mon, Oct. 29, 2018

CAIRO – Egypt is working to become a regional center for trading energy in the Eastern Mediterranean region during the upcoming period through the exploitation of its strong infrastructure, Minister of Petroleum Tarek el-Molla said.

El-Molla announced Egypt's readiness to cooperate with other countries in the region to receive gas, and then liquefy it and to re-export to Europe.

This came during Molla’s participation at the third Euro-Arab Summit under the theme "Horizons of Partnership" representing President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, in the Greek capital Athens, which started today and lasts for two days.

The minister pointed out that despite the natural and human resources of the Arab region, the optimal use of these resources has not yet been achieved, which clearly demonstrates great disparity in the trade balance between Arab countries and the European Union.

Energean Oil & Gas starts trading in Tel Aviv after secondary listing - PROACTIVE INVESTORS

29 Oct 2018, 08:18 

Israel-focused Energean Oil & Gas PLC (LON:ENOG) has started trading on the Tel Aviv exchange through a secondary listing.

Energean raised £330mln when it floated on London’s main market in March and will maintain this as its primary listing, but said the Tel Aviv quote will broaden the shareholder base.

No new shares were issued in connection with the Tel Aviv listing but Energean expects its shares to be included within the TA-90 Index, which comprises the 36 - 125th most highly capitalised companies listed in Tel Aviv.

Shares will be fully transferable and interchangeable between the two stock markets.

Cyprus proceeds with its energy plans, Energy Minister says - CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

CYPRUS/Nicosia 28/10/2018 14:00 

The Republic of Cyprus will proceed with its energy plans, exactly as foreseen, Minister of Energy Yiorgos Lakkotrypis has said. 

Asked if the Republic of Cyprus has taken any steps to address Turkish provocations in Cyprus` Exclusive Economic Zone, he said that the necessary measures have been taken in cooperation with the companies that have drilling licenses and the countries they come from.

The Republic of Cyprus will continue implementing its energy plans, exactly as foreseen, he concluded.