The US should link eastern Mediterranean gas to Europe to subvert Russia - THE HILL

MARCH/15/22 12:00 PM EDT

Nicholas Saidel, Godfrey Garner 

The Biden administration should pause its hyper-focus on renewable energy and support efforts to prevent Russian energy blackmail against our European allies. The European Union (EU) has declared it will cut reliance on Russian gas by two-thirds. If the U.S. is serious about energy security in Europe, it must help ensure that eastern Mediterranean natural gas makes it to Europe’s shores.

In late January, President Biden took the opposite route, surprising Greece, Israel and Cyprus — the regional entities in the U.S.-sponsored “3+1” cooperation framework — by withdrawing support for the EastMed Pipeline, an unfunded, multibillion-dollar concept conceived in 2016 that would have brought eastern Mediterranean gas to Europe via an underground pipeline. Biden cited climate change and economic viability concerns, both arguably reasonable positions at the time. However, considering Russia’s war in Ukraine and its downstream effects, Biden must show flexibility and adapt his natural gas policy.

Gas from the eastern Mediterranean could diversify Europe’s energy portfolio. Israel alone has approximately 2.2 trillion cubic meters of gas awaiting discovery. While it wouldn’t satisfy all of Europe’s needs, it would help to offset Russian gas imports. NATO countries such as Germany, Italy and Turkey could benefit from new suppliers, especially since German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has halted the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project that would have increased the country’s reliance on Russian gas. Like Germany, Italy is seeking alternative sources.

Can Egypt Become A Global LNG Power? - OILPRICE.COM

Dec 13, 2021, 2:00 PM CST
Cyril Widdershoven

• As demand for LNG around the world soars ahead of winter, Egypt is taking full advantage of high prices
• As well as the financial reward of increased exports, Egypt appears to be using its LNG supply to influence Turkey
• In Turkey, support for Erdogan is dwindling amidst high energy prices and rising inflation, forcing him to open up to both the UAE and Egypt

Egypt’s long-suffering LNG industry is finally experiencing some success as it takes advantage of European gas market constraints and exploits regional geopolitical developments. Cairo’s dream of becoming a global LNG player was derailed by a combination of the Arab Spring, conflict with Turkey, and then COVID demand destruction. Now, however, the country’s LNG industry is poised for major growth, with its largest producer, EGAS, having just offered a cargo on a free-on-board (FOB) basis for loading over December 28 and 29 from its Damietta LNG plant. The EGAS LNG tender will be closing on December 13, sources have stated. The last EGAS LNG tenders, which closed on November 29, were successful, as the company sold four out of five spot cargoes for loading between December and February.

Cyprus-Egypt technical committee on the joint gas pipeline project to meet 15/9 - IN-CYPRUS - PHILELEFTHEROS

05.SEPT.2021

The technical committee that is working on the preparations for a joint gas pipeline project between Cyprus and Egypt will convene on 15th September, according to a statement released on Sunday by the office of the Minister of Energy, Commerce and Industry, Natasa Pelides. The minister said she was very satisfied with her meetings in the Egyptian capital on Saturday.

The Energy Ministers of Cyprus and Egypt also decided on Saturday to sign a Memorandum of Understanding for the electricity interconnection between the two countries in the coming months. A business mission will also travel from Cyprus to Egypt to increase the trade of goods and services.

Discussions between Pelides and Egyptian Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister Tariq Al-Mulla as well as Nevin Gamea, Minister of Industry and Trade of the Arab Republic of Egypt in the framework of the first Intergovernmental Meeting were “very constructive and totally productive”, the  press release said.

Egypt, Israel discuss plans to liquefy natural gas in Egyptian plants - XINHUA

2021-08-10 06:13:26

CAIRO, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tariq al-Molla and the Israeli Minister of Energy Karine Elharrar discussed on Monday future plans to liquefy Israeli gas in Egyptian plants.

During a phone conversation, the two sides discussed the ongoing cooperation in the field of natural gas, and future plans to pump Israeli natural gas to be liquefied in Egyptian factories for re-export, the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources said in a statement.

The two ministers also talked about cooperation within the framework of the East Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF), stressing the need to strengthen bilateral and multilateral cooperation.

In January 2019, Egypt, Israel, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Jordan, and Palestine established the Cairo-based EMGF, whose charter entered into force in March, to become an intergovernmental organization concerned with natural gas affairs.

Cyprus Minister of Energy, Commerce and Industry: Liberalisation should be completed by 2022 - CYPRUS MAIL

April 4, 2021
Andrew Rosenbaum

Natasa Pilides, minister for energy, commerce and industry, has kindly conceded to Dr. Charles Ellinas and Andrew Rosenbaum a major update on energy policy and legislation. The Minister addresses nearly every important issue in the sector.

Q: Cyprus’s energy sector appears to be fragmented. Your Ministry in not in full control of all energy-related functions and activities on the island. This surely affects efficiency and effectiveness. Are there plans to lead to more effective coordination, or even more centralised planning and control?

A: I would say that the organisation of the energy sector at the state level is fairly sound, in that policy setting and implementation lies with the ministry, while the all-important role of the Regulator is kept separate and independent, in the hands of CERA. Having said that, energy is necessary and present in all aspects of life, from our homes to every type of business and industry, and as such, it should be, and is, at the heart of strategy formulation, much more so in recent years when the transition to a green economy has become our primary focus.

The EastMed Pipeline is a win-win for Israel, Cyprus and Greece - THE JERUSALEM POST

JANUARY 30, 2021 20:37
Michael Harari

In recent years, the Eastern Mediterranean has stood out as a distinct sub-region, receiving wide attention in the regional and international arena – politically, strategically and economically.

The discovery of natural gas in the Exclusive Economic Zones of Israel, Cyprus and Egypt, and the clear potential for the discovery of additional gas fields in the economic waters of other countries such as Lebanon, were a major catalyst for the development of new regional architecture on the one hand, and of rising tension between part of the countries involved on the other.

The bilateral relationship between Israel and Cyprus, which has become very close in the last decade, has in many ways been a cornerstone of the regional alliances that have been woven in recent years.

The Regional Gas Forum, established two years ago in Cairo and which consists of seven members, is a fascinating illustration of the common interests formed in the region. These are Egypt, Israel, Greece, Italy, Jordan, Cyprus and the Palestinian Authority. Israel is rightly entitled to observe these developments with great satisfaction.

Steinitz: Gas development after Israel-Lebanon talks critical for Beirut - THE JERUSALEM POST

OCTOBER 1, 2020 20:52

Lahav Harkov

The coronavirus pandemic has not stopped Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz from having a major international footprint.

In one week, Steinitz and his Egyptian counterpart established a new international organization dedicated to regional natural-gas developments, the minister spoke with two of his counterparts in the United Arab Emirates for the first time and negotiated the terms for starting maritime border talks with Lebanon, which were officially finalized on Thursday.

“In the coming period we will have negotiations directly mediated by the US, so that once and for all we can sum up the historic dispute over the maritime border between Israel and Lebanon,” Steinitz told The Jerusalem Post. It will be the first direct negotiations between the countries in 30 years.

East Mediterranean states establish forum - KATHIMERINI

22 September 2020 - 12:30

The founding members of the East Mediterranean Gas Forum signed a charter during an online ceremony on Tuesday, marking the group’s organization status in seeking to promote regional cooperation.

Ministers from Egypt, Israel, Greece, Cyprus, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority and Italy were scheduled to meet online to put pen to paper in a virtual ceremony, thereby establishing regional intergovernmental forum by statue.

According to a joint declaration, the forum “will contribute to advancing regional stability and prosperity” through cooperation in the energy field.

The Cypriot minister also said the charter was open for all countries that have an interest in the region and also share the same set of values and principles.

Egypt, Cyprus focus on natural gas pipeline amid tensions in eastern Mediterranean - AL MONITOR

Sep 13, 2020
Mohamed Saied

At a time when the oil and gas industry is facing economic uncertainty as part of the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic and the decline in global prices as a result of an oversupply, the eastern Mediterranean region is marred by a frantic struggle over natural gas resources.

Eastern Mediterranean countries have rushed to demarcate their maritime borders and exclusive economic zones in a bid to facilitate the gas exploration process.

The United States Geological Survey estimated the natural gas reserve in the Mediterranean in 2017 at 340-360 trillion cubic feet with a financial value ranging between $700 billion and $3 trillion.

In January 2019, Egypt, Cyprus, Greece, Israel, Italy, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority established the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum in an attempt to create a regional gas market, reduce infrastructure costs and offer competitive prices.

While eastern Mediterranean countries have ambitious projects to gain a foothold in the European market with natural gas exports, the European Union (EU) is seeking alternatives to its dependency on Russian gas, as Russia is the third-largest oil producer in the world.

Israel, Lebanon, and Failed Natural Gas Negotiations - FOREIGN POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE

December 11, 2019

Leah Pedro

Over the past decade, there has been a gas revolution in the Eastern Mediterranean, where discoveries of large offshore gas deposits have set up some of the littoral states—notably Israel, Egypt and perhaps Cyprus—as potential significant players in the European natural gas market. This has led to the creation of the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF), set up in Cairo this year, to facilitate cooperation among members—Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, Israel, Italy, Jordan, and Palestine, with U.S. support. Lebanon has been late to join in the gas market and has not yet been able to join the EMGF, and Turkey has been excluded for contentious bilateral relationships among members. While there seems to be a chance that further gas deposits are located in Lebanese waters, further exploration and exploitation cannot take place near the Israeli and Lebanese marine border until the contested area is demarcated. The potential profits from oil exploration in the disputed area could bring in as much as US$600 billion over the next several decades. Economic and political possibilities would seem attractive enough to incentivize both sides toward finding common ground. Yet, negotiations to delimit the maritime boundary, set to begin late summer 2019, never came to fruition, and do not seem likely to begin any time soon.

Libya, Turkey demarcation MoUs hinder efforts to settle Libyan crisis, Shoukry says - ENTERPRISE

Sunday, 8 December 2019

Libya and Turkey’s recently-signed border demarcation agreements will hinder efforts to resolve the Libyan crisis and negatively affect the Berlin political process, Foreign Ministry at the Rome Med 2019 – Mediterranean Dialogue on Friday. Shoukry also highlighted the establishment of the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum, which does not include Turkey nor Libya, as a model for constructive cooperation among Mediterranean countries to serve the objectives of sustainable development. The agreements signed between Turkey and Libya could potentially infringe upon territorial waters claimed by Egypt, Cyprus, and Greece.

French FM backs Egypt: French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian separately called the agreements “illegal” under international law during a phone call with Shoukry, according to a ministry statement.

Egypt’s position as regional gas export hub for East Med gets US support - ENTERPRISE

Sunday, 15 September 2019

Egypt’s position as regional gas export hub for East Med gets US support: US Deputy Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette met with Oil Minister Tarek El Molla on Thursday in Cairo to discuss moving forward with the US-Egypt Strategic Energy Dialogue — a bilateral cooperation initiative aimed at strengthening Egypt’s energy production, storage and distribution capacity. The project, which came out of an MoU signed during US Secretary of Energy Rick Perry’s visit in July, seeks to capitalize on Egypt’s position as the regional gas export hub for the East Mediterranean Gas Forum countries and hopes to attract new energy investments, said Brouillette. Following the meeting, Brouillette held a roundtable with a select few news outlets, including Enterprise, to discuss the initiative and Egypt’s role in the region’s energy. The Wall Street Journal also had the story.

Gas sector a catalyst for further cooperation between Lebanon and Egypt - EXECUTIVE MAGAZINE

Nada Boustani, Lebanon's Energy Minister

August 7, 2019

Mona Sukkarieh

The first six months of 2019 saw an unusual series of meetings between Lebanese and Egyptian officials, with energy cooperation at the core of these discussions. If memory serves well, the frequency is unprecedented.

The option of resuming gas imports from Egypt was discussed extensively, especially during the first meetings of 2019. Lebanon previously imported natural gas from Egypt in 2010 via the Arab Gas Pipeline (AGP) to generate electricity. But supplies were interrupted after a few months with various reasons touted (such as Egypt’s inability to pursue exports because production was barely enough to meet local demand, instability in Egypt, and attacks against the pipeline). With the formation of a new government on January 31, Lebanese officials explored the possibility of quickly resuming imports as they scrambled to find solutions to the problems plaguing the electricity sector. The dire state of Lebanon’s power sector and the burden it places on the economy propelled it to the forefront of the government’s reform agenda. Government officials examined the option of importing gas by pipeline from Egypt to generate electricity—in addition to the possibility of buying electricity from Jordan in exchange for water—as among the possible solutions that they thought could be implemented quickly.

Israeli Energy Exports Won’t Make Europe More Pro-Israel - FOREIGN POLICY

AUGUST 28, 2019, 6:57 AMCHARLES ELLINAS

The natural gas discovered in the Eastern Mediterranean is so expensive to bring to market that it might never reach European consumers, let alone change the policies of EU governments.

Ever since the discovery of the Leviathan gas field off the coast of Haifa, Israel has been dreaming of riches and political influence. A recent Foreign Policy article has taken this to the realms of the unimaginable—arguing that future European dependence on Israeli gas exports could both change the political views of European countries toward Israel and make the EU pro-Israel.

But the article overlooks a more basic question: Can Israeli gas ever make it to Europe or to global markets at a competitive price? With Leviathan about to come onstream, Israel, Noble Energy (as the operator), and its partners are looking for gas sales beyond this first phase of development. As much as 9-10 billion cubic meters per year of gas could be available for export. This is about the same amount as the Southern Gas Corridor pipeline from Azerbaijan to Italy that will be delivering 10 billion cubic meters per year to Europe by 2020.

Lebanon’s High Risk Offshore Oil & Gas Boom - OIL PRICE / YAHOO

August 24, 2019

Cyril Widdershoven

The least known offshore oil and gas frontier in the East-Mediterranean, Lebanon is preparing itself for a possible entrance into the producer’s league.

At the end of 2019, most probably November – December, offshore drilling is expected to start, targeting some prolific basins. The offshore success stories in Israel, Cyprus and Egypt, have supported the appetite of Beirut to take the plunge too. Nada Boustani, Lebanon’s Minister of Energy and Water, also reiterated that the country’s second licensing round is receiving lots of interest. Lebanon estimates its natural gas reserves at 25 trillion cubic feet (tcf) based on seismic studies, but these have not been confirmed by drilling and may not amount to reserves that are commercially viable.

In an interview given to the international press this week, Boustani showed extreme optimism about the expected results, hoping that an offshore gas discovery would give a big boost to the currently struggling Lebanese economy.

US-Greece-Cyprus-Israel want oil, gas as much East Med peace - NEW EUROPE

AUGUST 13, 2019 - 16:32

ATHENS – Meeting in Athens, the energy ministers of Greece, Cyprus, and Israel – Kostas Hatzidakis, Georgios Lakkotrypis, and Yuval Steinitz, as well as US Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources Frank Fannon – have discussed their cooperation in the field of energy, while affirming their shared commitment to promoting peace, security, and prosperity in the Eastern Mediterranean region.

The four met in Athens on 7 August and agreed to establish a High-Level Working Group (HLWG) that will highlight specific energy projects and propose ways of promoting their implementation.

“The ministers and the United States agreed to support their countries’ energy independence and the establishment of an Energy Corridor of the Eastern Mediterranean, contributing thus to the energy security of the European Union by actively promoting the diversification of import sources and routes,” the US Department of State said in a statement.

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.

Eastern Med countries agree to move ahead with gas forum - THE ARAB WEEKLY

Saturday 27/JULY/2019

CAIRO - Energy ministers from the founding countries of the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum agreed to complete the basic structure of the group and enhance cooperation to promote the exploitation of natural gas reserves in the region.

During a meeting July 25 in Cairo, energy ministers of Egypt, Cyprus, Greece, Israel, Italy, the Palestinian territories and a representative of the energy minister of Jordan said they would form a committee to elevate the forum to the level of an international organisation that respects the rights of its members to their natural resources.

The meeting of the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF) founders was almost six months after the forum was declared. EMGF is a new player on the international natural gas scene, deriving its force from numerous gas finds in the region in recent years.

The forum is an expression of the changing face of the region, in which political and military rivalries and animosities are overshadowed by economic interests, even as some regional countries, including Turkey, Lebanon and Syria, are yet to join.

U.S. says Turkey's exploration attempt in Cypriot waters discussed at Egypt gas forum - NASDAQ / REUTERS

Rick Perry meeting his Egyptian counterpart Tarek El-Molla 

July 25, 2019, 12:34:00 PM EDT

Cairo, July 25 (Reuters) - U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry told reporters on Thursday that countries participating in a gas forum in Egypt have discussed Turkey's exploration attempt in Cypriot territorial waters.

Perry, who was speaking on the sidelines of The Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum in Cairo, did not elaborate. The United Sates participates in the forum as an observer.

EU member Cyprus has discovered natural gas in areas off the south of the island, though nothing has been extracted. Turkey disputes the rights of Cyprus to explore for gas, sending drill ships of its own to stake a claim around the island.

Nicosia rejects the claim, saying that the assertion is not only inconsistent with international law, but that Turkey would not accept any international dispute settlement mechanism where its claims could be put to the test.

Cyprus was divided in 1974 after a Turkish invasion triggered by a brief Greek-inspired coup. Several peacemaking efforts have failed and the discovery of offshore resources has complicated the negotiations.

First exploitation licences set to be issued for Cyprus EEZ - CYPRUS MAIL

July 21, 2019

Katy Turner

The Council of Ministers is expected issue exploitation licences for the Aphrodite field, Energy Minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis said on Sunday.

“Regarding the agreements with Total and Eni, we are currently working on the legal details and they are expected to be brought before the Council of Ministers in the coming days for the relevant decisions,” he said.

As far as the Aphrodite field is concerned he said, “we are in negotiations with the consortium to come up with a jointly acceptable plan for development and production, which must be submitted to the Council of Ministers to issue exploitation licences for the Aphrodite field, marking the first time that such licences will be issued for the Cyprus EEZ (Excusive Economic Zone)”.

This is the third type of licence that is issued to interested companies. The first, a prospecting licence allows the geological evaluation of an area, while the second, an exploration licence allows for exploratory drilling to take place. If a discovery is made, the licensee then has the right be granted an exploitation licence.