Egypt’s gas exports can give it a foreign policy edge, petroleum minister says - CNBC

SAT, APR 6 2019 • 10:33 AM EDT

• Cairo is expected to become a net gas exporter by the end of 2019.
• Energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie estimates that Egypt’s existing fields have gas reserves of 61 trillion cubic feet, with a further 45 trillion cubic feet yet to be discovered.

Egypt’s goal to be a net gas exporter by the end of this year will strengthen it politically, Egypt’s petroleum minister said Saturday, stressing the opportunities for growth that would come from the recently-launched Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum.

“We cannot deny that if we are able to have our own energy this will give us some — not independence but let us say some strength, edge,” Tarek el Molla told CNBC’s Hadley Gamble at the World Economic Forum on the Middle East and North Africa in Amman, Jordan.

The minister was speaking in response to a question about many Middle Eastern countries’ reliance on their wealthier Gulf patrons like Saudi Arabia — and the fact that economic support from the Gulf also often means forfeiting independence in the foreign policy arena.

Lebanon launches its second offshore oil & gas licensing round - MIDDLE EAST STRATEGIC PERSPECTIVES

April 5, 2019

The cabinet approved the launching of Lebanon’s second offshore oil & gas licensing round in its latest session on April 4, 2019. Energy Minister Nada Boustani officially announced the launching of the tender in a press conference on April 5.

Five blocks are on offer: Blocks 1 and 2 in the northern part of Lebanon’s Exclusive Economic Zone, Blocks 8 and 10 in the south, and Block 5 in the middle of the EEZ.

As in the first licensing round, interested companies must form a consortium of at least three companies, one of which an operator, to place bids. The deadline to place bids is on January 31, 2020.

The Lebanese Petroleum Administration has recently announced some changes to the process. The tender won’t be preceded by a separate pre-qualification round, as in the first licensing round. The pre-qualification round will be mainstreamed in the process, giving companies more time to consider participating. The evaluation of pre-qualification applications will take place in the first weeks of February 2020, with pre-qualification results expected to be announced on the third week of February. It will be followed with the evaluation of submitted bids, a step that should be completed by mid-March 2020. Negotiations with the provisional winners will then take place, and if results are satisfactory, the Council of Ministers would be expected to approve the licensing by mid-April 2020.

Greece's Hellenic Petroleum sell-off stalls as no bids made - REUTERS

APRIL 3, 2019 / 7:03 PM
Angeliki Koutantou

• Glencore/CIEP and Vitol/Sonatrach were shortlisted
• 50.1 pct stake in Hellenic worth about $1.5 bln
• Privatisation agency’s board to discuss next steps 

ATHENS, April 3 (Reuters) - No binding bids have been submitted for a majority stake in Greece’s biggest oil refiner Hellenic Petroleum, dealing a blow to a key part of a planned sell-off of state assets mandated by international bailouts.

Switzerland-based commodities trader and miner Glencore had teamed up with CIEP Participations, and Vitol, the world’s largest oil trader, with Algeria’s Sonatrach after they were shortlisted to bid for a 50.1 percent stake in Hellenic.

Greece’s privatisation agency said the lack of bids was “due to reasons related to the short-listed parties and recent developments in the international environment that affect the consortia.” It did not elaborate.

Israel Electric Corp. Passed Up $1.3b to Let Delek, Noble Export Gas to Egypt - HAARETZ

Apr 03, 2019 5:21 AM

Ora Coren

The utility took an 85% haircut on Egyptian gas companies’ debt, saying this was 'important from a diplomatic standpoint'

The Israel Electric Corporation voluntarily gave up $1.3 billion in compensation after Egypt reneged on a gas-sale contract in order to let private-sector companies – led by Israel’s Delek and Houston-based Noble Energy – export Israeli gas to Egypt.

The electricity utility took an 85% haircut on the Egyptian gas companies’ debt, and intentionally did not inform the public, it emerged on Tuesday.

The IEC argued that its approach was “important from a diplomatic standpoint,” the Government Companies Authority said.

The agreement with the Egyptian gas companies came after two years of secret negotiations, after they reneged following the unrest in the country in 2011.

The companies had been ordered to pay the IEC $1.76 billion, not including interest and linkages due to inflation, under an international arbitration agreement.

Greece’s DEPA to Begin Selling Natural Gas to Bulgaria - GREEK REPORTER

Apr 3, 2019Tasos Kokkinidis

Greek energy provider DEPA on Tuesday became the first Western company to strike a deal with Bulgaria’s state-owned Bulgargaz to provide natural gas to the country.

This is the first time Bulgaria has ever bought gas from another provider outside its long-term contract with Russia’s Gazprom. Currently, more than 95 percent of the Balkan country’s gas needs are met by supplies from Gazprom, and the product is delivered through a pipeline which crosses Ukraine, Moldova and Romania.

Bulgargaz will complete the purchase of 1.5 million megawatt hours of fuel from DEPA in the second quarter, pumping the gas into its Chiren underground storage facility, the company said on Tuesday.

Bulgargaz said DEPA had offered the lowest price in a tender in which the state provider also received offers from Bulgaria’s Dexia Company and the Dutch-registered Kolmar NL.

The deal was hailed by the United States Ambassador to Athens Geoffrey Pyatt, who tweeted that the development was “another welcome example of Greece’s growing role as a facilitator of European energy diversification.”

ELPE, seeing growth, to reopen northern pipeline late this year - ENERGY PRESS

02/APRIL/2019

An oil pipeline stretching 213 kilometers from an ELPE (Hellenic Petroleum) facility in Thessaloniki to its Okta company refinery and storage facility in the Republic of North Macedonia is expected to be reopened towards the end of this year, roughly six years after the Greek petroleum group shut it down.

The matter has been included on the agenda for a meeting in Skopje today between officials from both sides of the border, led by their respective heads of state, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and his North Macedonian peer Zoran Zaev. The two leaders have agreed to sign a series of bilateral agreements and memorandums of cooperation.

Swift progress is being sought in efforts to finalize a customs agreement, align the oil pipeline plan with EU standards and facilitate its licensing.

ELPE intends to utilize the relaunched oil pipeline to transport fuel, especially diesel, in annual quantities of around one million metric tons, far greater than the total consumption in North Macedonia for exports to Bulgaria, Serbia and Kosovo, besides local sales.

Petrobras to Bid in Israeli Gas Tender - OFFSHORE ENGINEER

April 1, 2019

Israel's energy minister said on Sunday that Brazilian state-run oil firm Petrobras will take part in a tender to explore for oil and gas off Israel's shore, Reuters reports.

"It was agreed that Petrobras ... will take part in a process of oil and gas exploration in Israel," Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz told Army Radio as Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro began a visit to Israel.

A previous auction elicited bids from only two groups of companies, but prospects in the waters offshore Israel have become potentially more lucrative following a number of large gas discoveries offshore Israel and in nearby eastern Mediterranean in the last decade.

Israel will tender 19 new offshore blocks, and the energy ministry said it expects more oil and gas companies to compete this time as conditions have improved.

ExxonMobil is reportedly considering bidding in the auction.

Dana Gas receives a further $19m from Egypt - ARABIAN BUSINESS

Sun 31 Mar 2019 12:58 PM

The payment is part of the government's ongoing efforts to reduce their receivables position to zero in 2019

In 2018, Dana made good progress in reducing its outstanding balance of overdue receivables.

UAE-based natural gas company Dana Gas has received a payment of $19 million (AED 70 million) from its operations in Egypt.

The payment was made up of a $10 million payment from the government in Egyptian pounds and $9 million from the sale of a shipment of El Wastani condensate.

The payment is part of the government’s ongoing efforts to reduce their receivables position to zero in 2019.

In 2018, Dana made good progress in reducing its outstanding balance of overdue receivables. As at 31 December 2018, the net receivables position reduced by 39% to $140 million, the lowest level since 2011.