Cheaper Natural Gas From July 1 - NOVINITE

June 28, 2019, Friday // 13:21

Natural gas has been cheaper starting from July 1. This is decided by the Commission for Energy and Water Regulation. The price of the blue fuel will drop by 0.6%.

The gas price approved by the Commission for the third quarter amounts to BGN 44.90 / MWh (excluding access, transmission, excise and VAT), which represents a decrease of 0.27 BGN / MWh or 0.60% compared to the current price for the second quarter of 2019.

At the approved gas price of BGN 44.90 / MWh, the "gas price at the entrance of the gas transmission grid" is included in the amount of BGN 43.97 / MWh, the "public supply" to 0.80 BGN / MWh.

During the approval of the price of natural gas KEVR takes into account the conditions under the current contract between Bulgargaz EAD and OAO Gazprom Export, the changes in the USD exchange rate against the BGN, the calorific value and the quantities of natural gas for the respective quarter.

Oil, Gas Production Reaches 6.8 MM Tons - EGYPT OIL & GAS

Thursday, 27th June 2019

The total production of oil and natural gas reached 6.8 million tons in 2019, compared to 6.1 million tons during the same month in 2018, Egypt Oil & Gas reports.

Data by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) showed that the total consumption of petroleum and natural gas reached 6.1 million tons during April 2019, up from 6 million tons for the same month a year earlier.

Moreover, the consumption of petroleum products and natural gas reached 79.1 million tons in fiscal year (FY) 2017/2018.

CAPMAS indicated that the quantity of emissions from the consumption of petroleum products and natural gas reached 206.8 million tons in FY 2017/2018, down from 210 million tons in FY 2016/2017, with a decrease of approximately 1.5%.

Greece licenses Exxon, Total to explore untapped waters off Crete - REUTERS

JUNE 27, 2019 / 2:44 PM

ATHENS, June 27 (Reuters) - Greece on Thursday awarded licences to ExxonMobil and Total to search for hydrocarbons off the island of Crete, marking the country’s first major foray into an oil and gas search in the region.

The companies, in consortium with Hellenic Petroleum , have an eight-year research and exploitation licence in two offshore blocks lying south and south-west of Crete.

“Within two to four years we anticipate we will have a clear view of what and what kind of reserves are there,” Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said in a speech at the licensing ceremony.

Greece has a number of smaller concessions mainly off its western coast, but the Crete concessions represent 40,000 square kilometres of territory virtually unexplored.

Greece Inks Undersea Gas Deals Despite Environmental Warning - U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT / ASSOCIATED PRESS

June 27, 2019, at 11:10 a.m.
NICHOLAS PAPHITIS, Associated Press

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Financially-struggling Greece signed contracts on Thursday for offshore gas exploration in large tracts of the Mediterranean, despite warnings from environmental groups that the project threatens marine life habitats.

The deal will allow a consortium of energy companies Total and ExxonMobil with Greece's Hellenic Petroleum to explore two areas that are together about the size of Switzerland - 40,000 square kilometers (15,000 sq. miles) - south and southwest of the island of Crete.

It's the latest and by far biggest in a series of concessions for oil and gas exploration in the west of the country.

Fears of confrontation with neighboring Turkey over energy extraction rights have precluded similar deals in the Aegean Sea and east of Crete. Turkey currently has a drilling ship, escorted by warships, in waters where Cyprus has exclusive economic rights, and has threatened to make similar moves further west.

Agreement signed with INGL for the transfer of near shore and onshore infrastructure - ENERGEAN OIL & GAS

London, 25 June 2019 - Energean Oil and Gas plc (LSE: ENOG, TASE: אנאג) is pleased to announce that it has signed a Detailed Agreement (“Agreement”) with Israel Natural Gas Lines (“INGL”) for the transfer of title (the “hand over”) of the near shore and onshore part of the infrastructure that will deliver gas from the Karish and Tanin FPSO into the Israeli national gas transmission grid. An MOU with INGL was signed in December 2018. 

As consideration, INGL will pay Energean 369 million Israeli New Shekels, approximately US$102 million, which will be paid in accordance with milestones detailed in the Agreement. 

EastMed gas: Paving the way for a new geopolitical era? - DW

24.JUNE.2019

Sergio Matalucci

The East Mediterranean gas project is often described as an explosive geopolitical initiative that's not without a number of hidden agendas. Sergio Matalucci looks at what's behind the current debates in the region.

Opening the newspapers in Cyprus these days, gas developments pop out as a priority issue. It is one of the most discussed topics in the media and by the local population. There are a number of reasons for this — on economic, political and security levels.

On June 5, the Cypriot government said it has reached a production sharing agreement (PSA) for the development of the Aphrodite field, claimed to be worth a staggering $9.5 billion (€8.35 billion), which is over $11,000 per citizen.

"Enough deals with other countries are marginalizing Turkey from the eastern Mediterranean. They are legal, unlike Turkish actions, but because of Turkey's reactions tensions arise," Zenonas Tziarras, a researcher with the Peace Research Institute Oslo, told DW from his office in Nicosia, located less than 200 meters (656 feet) from the Ledras-Lokmaci checkpoint, which divides the northern and southern parts of the city.

"Cypriot people need hope because they feel weak. They don't have the means to react to Turkish actions or to the results of the 1974 invasion. The natural gas and regional synergies provide some of that hope," added Tziarras.

US-mediated talks between Lebanon and Israel expected to begin in weeks - THE ARAB WEEKELY

Sunday 23/06/2019

Simon Speakman Cordall

TUNIS - Lebanon has agreed to enter US-brokered talks with Israel over a disputed maritime border.

Lebanon has not commented publicly on its participation in such talks; however, Israeli sources indicated that negotiations could begin in July. It is understood that discussions would concern only the maritime border.

Acting US Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Satterfield has been shuttling between both countries’ capitals for months and is believed to have achieved a breakthrough after meeting with Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil in late May.

A statement, carried by Lebanese state media following a recent Satterfield meeting in Lebanon, said the Foreign Ministry confirmed that no major obstacles remained ahead of negotiations but that more trips were required.

“We started putting the final touches on the form of negotiations and the role of the concerned parties, including the United Nations, Lebanon and Israel, as well as the role of the United States,” the statement said.

Israel’s discovery of the Tamar and Leviathan gas fields in 2009 and 2010, respectively, increased the rate of exploration across the eastern Mediterranean, with discoveries later made in Cypriot and Egyptian waters.