Taps and alliances in an era of hard pipeline diplomacy - KATHIMERINI

18.JAN.2020 : 14:02
Stavros Tzimas

Amid growing turmoil over energy issues in the Eastern Mediterranean, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan inaugurated the TurkStream pipeline in Istanbul earlier this month.

The operation of TurkStream, which will carry Russian natural gas to Central Europe through Turkey, will go some way toward fulfilling Moscow’s goal of reducing gas transit via Ukraine. With the pipeline starting in Novorossiysk, crossing the Black Sea and ending at Kiyikoy in northwestern Turkey, Russia achieves its aim of bypassing Ukraine – with which relations have long been troubled – while Turkey gets to reinforce its role as the controller of the pipeline taps that bring gas to the West.

The pipeline is seen supplying the Turkish market and branching out through Bulgaria and Serbia to send gas to Central Europe. That is why the leaders of the two Balkan countries, Boyko Borisov and Aleksandar Vucic respectively, were present at the event in Istanbul.

Greek gas utility DEPA says wins case over supply deal with Turkey's BOTAS - REUTERS

JANUARY 16, 2020 / 12:47 PM

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece’s state-controlled gas utility DEPA, earmarked for privatization this year, has won a legal case over a supply deal with Turkish state energy company BOTAS, DEPA said on Thursday.

The International Court of Arbitration (ICC) ruled on Wednesday that BOTAS should cut retrospectively the contractual gas prices that DEPA has paid, DEPA said in a statement.

The ruling is the last step in a 10-year legal battle between DEPA and BOTAS and its impact is being assessed by DEPA, it added.

A source with knowledge of the matter said new pricing would apply from 2011 to the present and that DEPA had paid BOTAS $181 million under a previous ruling of the arbitration court as part of the legal case which started in 2009.

BOTAS was not immediately available to comment.

Update on Lebanon 2nd Offshore Licensing Round - PGS

January 16, 2020

Lebanon’s Ministry of Energy and Water and the Lebanese Petroleum Administration have announced an extension of the application deadline.

Companies interested in participating in the licensing round are now invited to submit their applications for Blocks 1, 2, 5, 8 and 10 before the 30th April 2020.

Exploration Opportunity
Lebanon presents a tremendous opportunity, with frontier acreage already covered by modern 2D and 3D seismic data. The acreage comes with the reassurance of proven hydrocarbon plays and recent discoveries in the vicinity.

Factbox: Egypt's push to be east Mediterranean gas hub - REUTERS

JANUARY 15, 2020 / 3:20 PM / UPDATED 19 HOURS AGO


(Reuters) - Egypt began importing gas from Israel’s largest offshore gas field, Leviathan, on Wednesday, a step Cairo hopes will help it become a regional energy hub.

Rapid growth in Egypt’s natural gas supplies, boosted by the discovery of the Mediterranean’s largest field, turned it from a net importer to exporter in late 2018.
ISRAEL DEAL

Egypt’s Dolphinus Holdings signed deals with partners in Israeli gas fields to buy an estimated $19.5 billion of gas.

Partners in Israeli fields Leviathan and Tamar will supply Egypt with 85.3 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas over 15 years.

Texas-based Noble Energy, Israel’s Delek Drilling and Ratio Oil own Leviathan. Noble, Delek Drilling, Isramco and Tamar Petroleum are leading partners in the Tamar field.

It is unclear how much of the gas imported from Israel will be re-exported.

Tamar Petroleum slumps on delayed offering - GLOBES

12 Jan, 2020 13:03

Kobi Yeshayahou

Tamar Petroleum Ltd. (TASE: TMRP) has seen its share price fall sharply today after the company's board decided to postpone a secondary offering of NIS 140 million due to "market conditions." The company's share price is down 12% today and is down 50% over the past year.

Tamar Petroleum was founded by Delek Group Ltd. (TASE: DLEKG) and its energy exploration and production unit Delek Drilling LP (TASE: DEDR.L) in 2017 as a special vehicle to sell its holding in the Tamar offshore gas field after the government insisted Delek sell its stake in either the Tamar or Leviathan fields to prevent it gaining a monopolistic stranglehold on Israel's gas market. After offerings by Delek and Noble Energy Inc. (NYSE: NBL), Tamar Petroleum today holds a 16.75% stake in the Tamar field along with Isramco Ltd. (Nasdaq: ISRL; TASE: ISRA.L) (28.75%), Noble Energy (25%), Delek Drilling LP (TASE: DEDR.L) (22%), Alon Natural Gas Exploration Ltd. (TASE: ALGS) (4%), and Everest infrastructure Fund (3.5%).