Egypt announces settling of claims over restarted Damietta LNG plant - REUTERS

WED MAR 10, 2021 / 2:48 AM EST

(Reuters) - Egypt's petroleum ministry announced on Wednesday a series of agreements settling all claims between Egypt, Egyptian National Gas Holding Company (EGAS), Union Fenosa Gas and the Spanish Egyptian Gas Company (SEGAS), ensuring resumption of production at the Damietta LNG liquefaction plant.

Last month, Egypt's petroleum minister had announced the restarting of the plant, which is 50% owned by Eni, a key step in the country's plans to promote itself as an energy hub in the eastern Mediterranean.

Shell Strikes $926 Million Deal to Sell Oil Assets in Egyptian Desert - BLOOMBERG

March 9, 2021, 9:27 AM
Salma El Wardany and Elena Mazneva

• Shell divests concessions for up to $926m to Cairn, Cheiron
• Cairn in turn offloads U.K. stakes for at least $460 million

Cairn Energy Plc reshuffled its portfolio, selling $460 million of assets in the U.K. North Sea and buying projects in Egypt’s Western Desert from Royal Dutch Shell Plc.

Both deals, announced Tuesday and seen completing in the second half of 2021, follow a pickup in oil and gas acquisitions after 2020’s pandemic-driven slump. Cairn’s retreat from the North Sea comes after several other international producers have withdrawn from the aging region. Meanwhile its purchase in Egypt enables Shell to chalk up proceeds in an ongoing divestment program.

“Cairn needed to rejuvenate its investment case, and this move does that,” Al Stanton, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, said in a note. “However, shareholders are faced with a steep learning curve” and Egyptian assets typically provide “limited oil-price leverage.”

Greece and Egypt reach compromise in eastern Mediterranean - ARAB NEWS

09 March 2021

ATHENS: Greece and Egypt reached a compromise on Monday in their disagreement over oil and gas exploration in an area of the eastern Mediterranean.

The spat had given Ankara an opportunity to mount a diplomatic offensive in an attempt to show that Turkey and Egypt were close to reaching an agreement of their own on maritime-exploration zones.
However, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis spoke a few days ago with Egyptian President Abdel Fatah El-Sisi. Soon after, it was announced that Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias would travel to Cairo on Monday to meet his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry.

After the meeting, Dendias said the contentious issue concerning one of the three Egyptian exploration areas, which follows the boundaries of a previous agreement between the two countries but also extends eastwards into an area claimed by Turkey, was merely a “technical one” and had been resolved. The coordinates of the disputed block were reportedly adjusted after consultations between Egyptian and Greek experts.

Greek-Italian venture signs agreement with Israel on Eastmed gas pipeline scheme - REUTERS

ATHENS, March 9 (Reuters) - Greek-Italian gas joint venture IGI Poseidon said on Tuesday it had signed an agreement with the Israel Natural Gas Lines Company to cooperate on building facilities to connect Israel to a planned gas pipeline in the eastern Mediterranean.

Greece, Cyprus and Israel last year signed a deal to build the Eastmed gas pipeline, which has been in the planning for several years and seeks to transport gas from offshore Israel and Cyprus to Greece and on to Italy to help Europe diversify its energy resources. IGI Poseidon, a joint venture between Greece’s state-owned gas utility DEPA and Italy’s Edison, said the agreement with the Israeli company, which updates a 2019 memorandum of understanding, aims to connect the Eastmed project to the Israeli transmission system and facilitate gas flows from the eastern Mediterranean to Italy and Europe, via Cyprus.

Israel, Cyprus and Greece agree to link power grids via subsea cable - REUTERS

MARCH 8, 20212:27 PM

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Cyprus, Greece and Israel on Monday signed an initial agreement to build the world’s longest and deepest underwater power cable that will traverse the Mediterranean seabed at a cost of about $900 million and link their electricity grids.

The project, called the Euro-Asia interconnector, will provide a back-up power source in times of emergency, said Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz, who was in Nicosia to sign a memorandum of understanding with his counterparts.

Cypriot Energy Minister Natasa Pilides said it marked “a decisive step towards ending the island’s energy isolation, and consequently, our dependence on heavy fuels.”

The cable will have a capacity of 1,000-2,000 megawatts (MW) and is expected to be completed by 2024, according to Israel’s energy ministry.

Diplomatic sources reportedly deny claims of Turkey-Egypt EEZ delineation talks - KATHIMERINI

08.MARCH.2021 • 12:36

Diplomatic sources in Egypt have denied claims that Cairo and Ankara are engaged in talks over exclusive economic zone (EEZ) delineation in the Eastern Mediterranean.

According to the same sources, cited by the Arab News website, Egypt remains committed to Greece and Cyprus.

“The Egyptian side is sticking to its position rejecting the maritime agreement signed between the Libyan Government of National Accord and Ankara,” the sources said, according to the report.

“Egypt’s respect for the maritime borders of the Mediterranean countries is not new and Turkey’s attempts to claim that the two countries have negotiated is incorrect,” the sources said.

Last week, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu suggested Turkey had been invited to negotiate a maritime demarcation agreement with Egypt in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias is on Monday expected to visit Cairo and Nicosia.