Egypt reaches agreement with Eni, Naturgy over Damietta LNG plant - AHRAM ONLINE / REUTERS

Thursday 27 Feb 2020

Italy’s Eni and Spain’s Naturgy have reached an agreement with Egypt to resolve a series of disputes over the Damietta gas liquefaction plant in northern Egypt, paving the way for the facility to restart by June, the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral ressoruces and the companies said on Thursday.

The agreement will end Naturgy’s business interests in Egypt and dissolve a joint venture between Naturgy and Eni, while Eni and state-owned Egyptian firms will increase their holdings in the Damietta plant.

The facility, which has a capacity of 7.56 billion cubic meters per year, has been idle since the end of 2012 when a popular uprising hit gas supplies in Egypt and the government was forced to import gas to meet domestic demand.

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.

Petroceltic to seek arbitration against EGPC for inability to pay debts - AHRAM ONLINE

Sunday 17 Feb 2019

UK international energy company Petroceltic has announced its intention to seek arbitration in a dispute with Egypt's state-owned Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) over what Petroceltic says is the Egyptian company's failure to pay debts.

Petroceltic said in a statement that it is seeking arbitration with the World Bank-managed International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes over EGPC's "breach of its obligations under multiple Gas Sales Agreements and in particular EGPC’s inability to pay its debts as they fall due for payment."

Petroceltic Chairman Angelo Moskov said that the company has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in Egypt and sustained hundreds of EGPC jobs in joint venture with EGPC, at considerable expense to Petroceltic.

Egypt achieved self sufficiency in natural gas consumption in 2018: Ministry - AHRAM ONLINE / REUTERS

Tuesday 25 Dec 2018

Egypt's Ministry of Petroleum says that the country achieved self sufficiency in natural gas consumption in September 2018 due to the gradual increase in local production and the plan to develop major gas fields in the Mediterranean.

The discovery of the large offshore fields has resulted in the halting of natural gas imports for the first time in three years.

The ministry said in a statement that 2018 witnessed remarkable achievements and improvements in the oil and gas sector.

"Natural gas has been extended to more than 1 million residential units in 72 highly-populated cities and villages across Egypt in 2018," the statement read.

"As many as 18,784 cars have been adjusted to operate with natural gas during the period between January and November 2018."

Egypt’s Enppi and Petrojet complete 60% of Jordan natgas network expansion - ENTERPRISE

Wednesday, 24 October 2018

State energy companies Enppi and Petrojet have completed 60% of a project to expand the natural gas network in Jordan, Oil Minister Tarek El Molla said, according to Ahram Online. The two companies are expected to inaugurate the project in October 2019. 

We had previously noted that Enppi and EGAS are building a 17 km steel pipeline for the Jordanian-Egyptian Fajr for Natural Gas Transport and Supply Company that should be complete by 2020, but it remains unclear whether this is the project Molla was referring to.

Egypt's Enppi, UK's Wood Group sign partnership deal on gas exploration, production - AHRAM ONLINE

Monday 24 Sep 2018

Egypt’s state oil company Engineering for Petroleum and Process Industries (ENPPI) signed a deal on Monday with the UK’s Wood Group for a technical and engineering partnership on natural gas exploration and production through deepwater drilling.

In an official statement, Egypt’s petroleum ministry said the inking of the agreement was witnessed by Minister of Petroleum Tarek El-Molla, UK’s Ambassador to Egypt Sir Geoffrey Adams, and UK trade envoy Sir Jeffrey Donaldson.

It was signed by the Chairman of Enppi Alaa Hejazi and his counterpart at Wood, Colin McKinnon.

El-Molla said following the signing that the agreement aims to transfer technology and necessary experience between both sides to undergo the needed engineering work for natural gas exploration and drilling in the deep ocean, as Egypt continues to move forward with executing mega projects for the development and production of natural gas from the Mediterranean.

Egypt highlights benefits of Cyprus gas renegotiations - CYPRUS MAIL

AUGUST 27, 2018

Evie Andreou 

Egypt has nothing to fear from the ongoing renegotiations concerning the Cyprus natural gas deal, an Egyptian official has said.

In an interview with Ahram online, the former vice president of the Egyptian Petroleum Authority, Medhat Youssef, said that Cyprus’ renegotiation with energy companies over the revenue sharing agreement for the 4.5 trillion cubic feet (tcf) Aphrodite gas field find is a normal procedure that should be undertaken if there is a change in the market, including oil prices.

Youssef said that any changes in the agreement would only guarantee benefits for every side involved including Egypt, Cyprus and foreign investors.

Cyprus’ cabinet last week appointed a committee to enter talks with energy companies. Energy Minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis said that the best option would be to try and find a mutually acceptable solution with the consortium so that the Aphrodite reserve is developed as soon as possible.

Egypt to accelerate Zohr gas field development, to be completed one year ahead of schedule - ENERGY EGYPT / AHRAM ONLINE / ENTERPRISE

February 4, 2018

Egypt to complete development on Zohr one year ahead of schedule: Egypt will complete the development of the Zohr gasfield at the beginning of 2019, instead of the end of the year, Oil Minister Tarek El Molla said on Thursday, according to Reuters. Egypt had been speeding up the development of the giant gasfield, with early phase production commencing ahead of schedule last December. Speedy development of the field had helped Egypt move forward its plans to cut imports of LNG from late 2018 to July.

Egypt's Sisi to fly to Nicosia Monday for tripartite summit with Cyprus, Greece - AHRAM ONLINE

SISI, TSIPRAS, ANASTASIADES, DECEMBER 2015,ATHENS

Friday 17 Nov 2017

President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi is set to fly to Cyprus on Monday to participate in a tripartite summit between the two states and Greece.

State agency MENA said the upcoming summit would include talks on coordinating stances, as well as boosting cooperation between the three countries as regards politics, economics and trade, security, and tourism.

The meetings will also include discussions on regional issues, including the Syrian and Libyan crises, and combating terrorism and extremism.

The upcoming tripartite meeting will be the fifth such meeting between El-Sisi, Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades, and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in recent years.

Fuel subsidy spending rises 68% y-o-y in 1Q2017-18, El Molla says - ENTERPRISE

Sunday, 12 November 2017

Fuel subsidy costs rose 68% y-o-y to EGP 23.5 bn in 1Q2017-18, up from EGP 14 bn in the same quarter of the previous fiscal year, Oil Minister Tarek El Molla told reporters yesterday, Reuters reports. The minister reaffirmed that the government would not raise fuel subsidies again during this fiscal year, but said gasoline subsidies will be lifted altogether within five to ten years; some form of subsidy will remain in place for diesel fuel and gas cylinders, according to Ahram Online. The partial lifting of fuel subsidies since November 2016 has trimmed EGP 4 bn off the state’s expenditures this year, El Molla says. As we noted previously, the government is projecting that spending on fuel subsidies this fiscal year will record EGP 110 bn.

LNG production from Giza, Fayoum fields to reach 500 mln cfpd by end of 2018 - AHRAM ONLINE

Friday 22 Sep 2017

Egypt’s Minister of Petroleum Tarek El-Molla announced on Friday that liquified natual gas (LNG) production from the Giza and Fayoum fields will reach 500-700 million cubic feet per day (cfpd) by the end of 2018.

El-Molla’s statement came during the seventh regular meeting of the committee responsible for following progress of the second phase of the West Delta gas fields on Friday.

Earlier this week, the minister revealed that Egypt is planning to reduce its LNG imports in the fiscal year 2017-18, thanks to expected production from the Zohr gas field, with imports restricted to 80 shipments worth $1.8 billion.

Egypt’s General Petroleum production rates 'unprecedented': Ministry - AHRAM ONLINE

Friday 4 Aug 2017

Egypt’s state-owned General Petroleum Company has reached unprecedented production rates of 57,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, the petroleum ministry said in a Friday statement.

The increased production rates follow the discoveries of two new fields, NES-5 and NES-7, the statement added.

Egypt to receive first shipment of Iraqi crude oil on Tuesday under new deal - AHRAM ONLINE

Egypt's Petroleum Minister Tarek El Molla

Monday 15 May 2017

Egypt will receive two million barrels of crude oil on Tuesday from Iraq, the first shipment to arrive as part of a deal with the Iraq's state oil marketing company SOMO, Al-Ahram’s Arabic website quoted Egypt’s Oil Minister Tarek El-Molla as saying.

Under the terms of the year-long agreement, which was reached last month by Baghdad and Cairo, Iraq will sell 12 million barrels of oil to Egypt.

Cairo has been struggling to procure oil and natural gas for domestic market needs from several sources in the past few years.

However, recent surges in natural gas discoveries and projected finds in the country promise to help Egypt cut down on its liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports in the coming year.

British oil investments to make Egypt new energy superpower, says UK envoy - AHRAM ONLINE

Thursday 11 May 2017

British Ambassador to Egypt John Casson said petroleum giant British Petroleum (BP) is investing $13 billion over five years to make Egypt the new energy superpower, through investments worth more than Cairo's three-year $12 billion loan deal with the IMF.

In a press release, the UK Embassy in Cairo said Casson attended the inauguration of BP's first two gas fields in the West Nile Delta Project, which was opened Wednesday by President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and the company's chief executive Bob Dudley.

Egypt to begin production from Zohr gas field by late 2017: Rosneft CEO - AHRAM ONLINE

Egypt's president Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi during a meeting
with CEOs of Rosneft, Eni, BP

Tuesday 28 Mar 2017
Mahmoud Aziz

The CEO of Rosneft, the majority state-owned Russian oil company, said on Monday that the first gas production from Egypt's super giant Zohr gas field is scheduled by the end of 2017, according to state-run news agency MENA.

Igor Sechin's statement came during a meeting with Egypt's President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Prime Minister Sherif Ismail on Monday evening.

Discovered in August 2015 by Italian oil company Eni, Zohr is the largest natural gas field ever found in the Mediterranean, with an estimated 850 billion cubic metres of gas.

Last December, Rosneft agreed to acquire a 30-percent share of the Shorouk concession, which contains the Zohr gas field.

Egypt's Sisi and Germany's Merkel to inaugurate megaproject in Egypt - AHRAM ONLINE

German Chancellor Angela Merkel (L) and Egyptian President Abdel
Fattah El-Sisi (R) in Berlin, May 2015 (Reuters)

Thursday 2 Mar 2017
Mahmoud Aziz

The two leaders will inaugurate the first phase of a Siemens project to build three new power plants in Egypt

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is set to arrive in Cairo Thursday on a two-day visit to meet with Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, and to inaugurate with her counterpart the first phase of a Siemens megaproject.

The two leaders are scheduled to hold a press conference shortly after their meeting.

Sisi and Merkel will inaugurate the first phase of a project, run by the German company Siemens, to build three new power plants in Egypt.

Egypt to receive first shipment from Iraqi oil deal in March: Ambassador - AHRAM ONLINE

Monday 27 Feb 2017Menna Alaa El-Din

Iraq is expected to deliver in March the first oil shipment to Egypt as part of a one-year agreement reached by the two countries in late 2016, Iraqi Ambassador to Cairo Habib Al-Sadr said on Monday.

In an interview with Al-Ahram daily newspaper, Al-Sadr said the first batch, set at one million barrels per month, would be delivered at the end of March 2017, adding that the deal should bridge the gap between oil production and consumption in Egypt.

The ambassador, who took office two months ago, said he had been working "behind closed doors" to speed up the shipment's delivery, given its importance for both countries.

Egypt to increase gas production up to 50 percent by mid-2018 - AHRAM ONLINE

Reuters

Tuesday 24 Jan 2017

Egypt's Petroleum Minister Tarek EL-Molla said that Egypt is aiming to increase its natural gas production up to 50 percent by mid-2018, as well as completing the infrastructure development projects of Misr Fertilizers Production Company (MOPCO) and The Egyptian Company for Ethylene Production (ETHYDCO) petrochemicals factories.

El-Molla's statement came during his participation in the Egyptian-British business council meetings held in London.

The minister stated before the council that Egypt has announced two major international bids for gas and petroleum excavation in 2016, in addition to the inking of 76 agreements and securing $31 billion of investments during the upcoming 3-4 years, to speed up gas excavation in the Zohr, North Alexandria and Atoll fields.

Italy's Eni signs 2 new gas exploration deals with Egypt - AHRAM ONLINE

Tuesday 27 Dec 2016

Italy’s Eni, one of the leading global oil and gas companies, signed on Tuesday two new concession agreements with the Egyptian government for gas exploration in two fields of “North El-Hammad and North Ras El-Esh, located in the shallow waters of the Egyptian Mediterranean Sea,” according to the group’s website.

For the North El-Hammad block, Eni has a stake of 37.5 percent, while the remaining equities are owned by BP and Total, the Italian company said.

However, Eni has a 50 percent participation stake in the North Ras El-Esh block, which is operated by BP with an equity of 50 percent.

Egypt oil ministry signed 8 deals worth $709 mln to find energy reserves in 2015/16 - AHRAM ONLINE

Sunday 25 Dec 2016

Egypt's petroleum ministry said it signed in 2015/16 eight agreements with six international and local companies to search for oil and gas reserves in the Mediterranean, the Western Desert, the Gulf of Suez and Upper Egypt, with total investments worth $709 million.

The ministry said in a Sunday statement that the agreements also include drilling 33 new energy wells.

The ministry also highlighted that it has succeeded in increasing the natural gas production per day to around 4.45 billion cubic feet of gas by accelerating the search for natural gas reserves in the Mediterranean.