Congress quietly adopts Exxon Mobil-backed law promoting new gas pipeline, arms to Cyprus - THE INTERCEPT_

February 6 2020, 2:00 p.m.

Steve Horn, Lee Fang

IN A BITTERLY divided Congress, lawmakers still managed to come together to help Exxon Mobil pass major legislation that could remake the geopolitics of the Middle East and Europe.

During the holiday season legislative blitz in December, legislators tucked an obscure provision into the omnibus spending package that lifted arms restrictions and boosted a controversial pipeline deal in the eastern Mediterranean Sea.

The legislative text, mirroring a bill that has circulated in Congress over the last year, promises a range of U.S. assistance for the development of natural gas resources off the coasts of Israel and Cyprus, including support for constructing pipelines and liquified natural gas terminals and the creation of a United States-Eastern Mediterranean Energy Center in the region run by the U.S. Department of Energy.

Energean: coronavirus could delay Israel gas field development - GLOBES

6 Feb, 2020 15:05
Amiram Barkat

The FPSO for the Tanin and Karish offshore natural gas fields is under construction in China.

The coronavirus outbreak in China is liable to delay natural gas delivery by Greek company Energean Oil & Gas plc (LSE: ENOG; TASE: ENOG) to customers in Israel. Energean, which is developing the small offshore Karish and Tanin gas fields, announced today that it had been notified by TechnipFMC, a subcontractor for the Karish and Tanin development project that it "reserves the right to extend the agreement for completion of the project due to events beyond our control."

TechnipFMC is concerned that the quarantine in parts of China because of the virus will delay completion of the floating production storage and offloading unit (FPSO) designed to produce gas from Karish and Tanin and stream it to the shore. The FPSO, now being built in China at a cost of $2 billion, is scheduled to reach Israel before 2021, and to anchor above the fields, 100 kilometers off the shore.

EGAS scraps plan to increase domestic natgas production to 8 bcf this fiscal year - ENTERPRISE

Thursday, 6 February 2020

EGAS’ plan to increase domestic production of natural gas to 8 bcf/d in FY2019/2020 has been hindered by the global decline in the price of natural gas and the abundant supply for local consumption, sources from EGAS told Al Mal. 

The sources said that the inability to implement the plan is not due to technical, production or investment problems, but is linked to global and local changes. 

Global gas prices averaged USD 2.57/mmBtu last year, down from USD 3.15 over the past four years, and fell below USD 2 at the end of January.

Egypt: BP to Bring Raven Project Online by 2020 End - OFFSHORE ENGINEER

February 5, 2020

BP's phase three of the $12 billion West Nile Delta project offshore Egypt will come online by the end of this year, nearly 12 months behind the earlier scheduled deadline, the company said in a conference call this week.

The third phase includes the development of the Raven field, located in the offshore area encompassing five gas fields across the North Alexandria and West Mediterranean Deepwater offshore concession blocks which BP is developing in phases.

“The Raven project in Egypt is now expected to come on stream around the end of 2020,” said BP during the quarterly results call. To remind, BP had in February 2019 said it would bring Raven online by the end of 2019.

Cyprus: Lakkotrypis and Fannon welcome the launch of 3+1 Technical Committee works - IBNA

05/FEB/2020Spiros Sideris

The Minister of Energy, Commerce and Industry George Lakotroupis alongside the US Deputy Secretary of State for Energy Resources Francis R. Fannon welcomed the launch of the works of the first 3+1 Technical Committee (Cyprus, Greece Israel and the US) today, Wednesday February 5 2020 in Nicosia, to address the issue of “Emergency Preparedness and Response to Emergencies Related to Offshore Oil and Gas Activities”.

Speaking to the press, George Lakotroupis explained that the establishment of the Technical Committee had been agreed at the 3+1 Ministerial Meeting in Athens last August. “As I emphasized in my greeting statements, the cooperation of the three countries, plus the United States, is very important. Mind that it began in March 2019, at the 3+1 meeting at Jerusalem at the level of leaders between Cyprus, Greece and Israel, in the presence of the US Secretary of State; and it is precisely the model of cooperation everyone in the region must adopt, in order to be able to promote the common interests of our people”.

International oil companies begin submitting offers for Shell’s Egypt assets - ENTERPRISE

Awarded Concessions 2018 Licensing Round

Tuesday, 4 February 2020

M&A WATCH- IOCs bidding for Shell’s Egypt assets: Royal Dutch Shell has begun receiving offers from international companies for the upcoming sale of its onshore upstream assets in Egypt’s Western Desert, the local press reports, citing an unnamed industry source. The source did not say how many offers have been submitted so far, or which companies have expressed their interest in Shell’s Egypt portfolio. Shell is looking to close the sale, which could net as much as USD 1 bn for the company, by the end of the year.

Background: Shell had said back in October it is planning the divestment “in order to fully concentrate on growing its Egyptian offshore exploration and integrated gas business.” The company’s portfolio in the Western Desert includes stakes in 19 oil and gas assets including the Badr El Din and Obaiyed area, as well as the North East Abu El Gharadig, West Sitra, Bed 1 gas, and West Alam El Shawish concessions, according to the company website. Shell is not divesting from its offshore assets, downstream lubricants, or its share in Egyptian LNG.

Delek expects Leviathan expansion investment decision in 2020 - REUTERS

FEBRUARY 3, 2020 / 1:58 PM

Steven Scheer, Ari Rabinovitch

TEL AVIV, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Israel’s Delek Drilling expects a final investment decision this year on expanding exports from the Leviathan gas field using either an LNG facility in Egypt or a floating terminal, its CEO said on Monday.

The offshore Leviathan project came online a month ago and is already supplying Egypt and Jordan with natural gas. The project is led by partners Delek Drilling, a unit of Delek Group , and Texas-based Noble Energy.

Delek Drilling CEO Yossi Abu told a conference of investors that in order to further develop Leviathan, his company was in talks with banks about securing $2.5 billion in long-term funding, either through bank financing or bonds.