Energy cooperation boosts growing trilateral alliance between Egypt, Greece and Cyprus - AHRAM ONLINE

Saturday 10 Aug 2019

The first tripartite gathering between Egypt, Greece and Cyprus was held in 2014 and quickly turned into a broad alliance fostering cooperation across a range of economic, political and strategic interests.

Last week’s visit by Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri to Greece and Cyprus lent impetus to the process, boosting relations and enhancing cooperation between the three states, especially in the energy field.

Professor of political science Tarek Fahmi says the tripartite gathering is already working for the benefit of the three countries, and for the region in general, especially after the East Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF) was established.

Egypt is seeking to become a major regional hub for the production, processing and trading of natural gas.

Mytilineos Group overtakes DEPA as major LNG importer in 2019 - KATHIMERINI

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 9, 2019

Private Greek industrial group Mytilineos has overtaken incumbent DEPA to become the country’s biggest LNG importer this year, the first time in history that an independent company has knocked the state-owned company from the top spot, ICIS an information platform on petrochemicals and specifically on energy issues, fertilisers and other commodities said in a report.

Mytilineos imported over 370,000 tonnes of LNG from January to July, or 39 percent of the national total supplies, according to LNG Edge. DEPA took 273,000 tonnes, or 29 percent.

DEPA’s market share was 92 percent last year, and has never previously fallen below 50 pct. The shift indicates the progress made in one of the last countries in the European Union to liberalize its gas market.

The market began opening back in 2005, but momentum picked up from 2018 when the retail market was fully liberalized, leaving consumers free to choose their supplier. DEPA has been losing customers ever since.

With demand from the electricity power sector as well as industrial needs in aluminium manufacturing, Mytilineos is at the forefront of the market.

ExxonMobil considers logistics support center in Damietta Port - ENERGY EGYPT / DAMIETTA PORT AUTHORITY

AUGUST 7, 2019 AT 3:18 PM

Damietta Port Authority (DPA) Chairman, Cpt. Tarek Shahin met with ExxonMobil delegation to discuss their interest in exploring the possibility to establish a logistic support center in Damietta Port for servicing oil and gas fields.

Both sides looked over port capabilities particularly its unique location near recent oil discoveries and gas fields in the Mediterranean, the available multimodal transport facilities which translate into a competitive edge setting Damietta in front of other national ports.

Shahin welcomed the delegation and confirmed readiness to offer all possible facilities to support the new project stressing the fact that Damietta Port does entertain a wonderful package of strong infrastructure tied with wide expertise in such projects. He also pointed out that global enterprises are currently working in Damietta Port in projects serving recently discovered oil fields in the Mediterranean.

JOINT STATEMENT following the Ministerial meeting between Greece-Cyprus-Israel and the United States Regarding cooperation in the field of Energy - MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT & ENERGY, GREECE

Athens, August 7th, 2019

The Energy Ministers of the Hellenic Republic, Mr. Kostas Hatzidakis, the Republic of Cyprus, Mr. Georgios Lakkotrypis, the State of Israel, Mr. Yuval Steinitz, and the Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources of the United States of America, Mr. Francis Fannon, met today in Athens regarding cooperation in the field of energy, while affirming their shared commitment to promote peace, stability, security and prosperity in the Eastern Mediterranean region.

Mr. Fannon underlined the increasing and tangible support of the US government for the establishment of a structured quadrilateral mechanism for cooperation that focuses on energy matters.

The Ministers and the United States identified several significant areas of common interest, including, inter alia, infrastructure projects, renewable energy and energy storage, emergency preparedness, environmental protection and cyber security, while agreeing to establish a High Level Working Group (HLWG) that will highlight specific energy projects and propose ways of promoting their implementation. The Ministers have agreed to work towards signing an agreement for a joint emergency preparedness and response mechanism for offshore oil and gas operations. The HLWG will report its progress to the Ministers of Energy on a regular basis.

Egypt update - ROCKHOPPER EXPLORATION

07 August 2019 07:00

Rockhopper Exploration plc (AIM: RKH), the oil and gas company with key interests in the North Falkland Basin and the Greater Mediterranean region, provides the following operational update in relation to the Abu Sennan concession, Egypt ("Abu Sennan"). Through Rockhopper Egypt Pty Limited, Rockhopper holds a 22% working interest in Abu Sennan.

Al Jahraa-7

The development well, Al Jahraa-7, was spudded on 25 May 2019, and reached total depth of 3,970m MD in the Kharita formation on 23 June 2019. Initial petrophysics indicated pay in the following intervals:

• Abu Roash-C / Net Pay: 7m
• Abu Roash-E / Net Pay: 4m
• Upper Bahariya / Net Pay: 9m
• Lower Bahariya_1 / Net Pay: 6m
• Lower Bahariya_2 / Net Pay: 5m

A series of well tests of the Abu Roash-E and Bahariya reservoirs has commenced, initially with the rig on location and subsequently following release of the rig. These operations remain ongoing.

Energy ministers to meet in Athens - KATHIMERINI

MONDAY AUGUST 5, 2019 : 21:02

Greece is hosting officials from Cyprus, Israel and the United States at a ministerial meeting on energy issues on Wednesday.

Environment and Energy Minister Kostis Hatzidakis, Cyprus’ Minister of Energy, Commerce and Industry Georgios Lakkotrypis, Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz and US Assistant Secretary at the State Department’s Bureau of Energy Resources Francis R. Fannon will meet at the Hilton Athens to discuss areas of potential cooperation and to advance construction of the EastMed natural gas pipeline.

The officials plan to set up a working committee of high-level officials to identify specific cooperation projects and ways to implement them.

Eni continues oil and gas initiative in Libya - OIL REVIEW MIDDLE EAST

Sunday, 04 August 2019 04:30

Fayez al-Sarraj, head of the presidential council of the Libyan Government of National Accord, met in Tripoli with Eni’s CEO Claudio Descalzi to discuss the general situation of Libya, with a particular focus on the introduction of renewable energy in Libya and Eni's activities in the country

The meeting was also attended by the chairman of the National Oil Corporation (NOC) Mustafa Sanalla.

Claudio Descalzi assured Sarraj the full commitment of the company to its operational activities and projects in the country and reiterated Eni’s commitment in the social area, particularly in reference to the initiatives undertaken in the power generation sector.

Following the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed last year with GECOL and NOC, Eni has contributed greatly for the improvement of the power sector, supplying much needed spare parts and technical assistance that allowed the recovery of 425MW of power output in the Tripoli area.

Understanding the Israel-Lebanon Maritime Border Dispute - HONEST REPORTING

August 4, 2019

Griffin Judd

International border disputes are very common, and in the normal course of events rarely draw any attention. But what happens when one of the countries in the dispute refuses to acknowledge the other’s existence? This complicates things, because the two countries then cannot negotiate directly. After all, negotiation implies recognition.

That is the dilemma currently facing Israel and Lebanon, who, since 2011, have been arguing over an 856 sq km piece of ocean.

But why is this area of the sea worth fighting about? What are the problems? And more importantly, what are the possible solutions?

History of the Israel-Lebanon Maritime Dispute

To understand this dispute, one must understand the international laws behinds it. At the root of the problem lies is the jurisdiction of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Under this treaty, states are entitled to a 200-nautical mile Economic Exclusion Zone (EEZ) off their coast. Within this zone, states have exclusive rights to exploit natural resources, such as fish and oil.

Lebanon ratified UNCLOS and submitted its proposed border to the UN in 2011; Israel never ratified the treaty, but generally adheres to it, and submitted its proposed border to the UN at the same time.

And here the dispute arose.

BP eyes natgas output of 500 mcf/d from Baltim South West by mid-2020 - ENTERPRISE

Sunday, 4 August 2019

BP aims to increase natural gas production to 500 mcf/d by the middle of 2020 when it completes the development of its Baltim South West field, a source from EGAS told the press. 

Work is still ongoing to develop the field and link it to the national gas grid. Eni estimated the field to hold 1 tcf of natural gas after it was discovered in 2016. 

Six wells in the development lease were originally slated to be linked to production in 2H2017. Little has been heard of the field since then. 

Eni (through its Italian Egyptian Oil Company subsidiary) and BP both hold 50% stakes in the field.