Record Egyptian finds but gas glut beckons - CYPRUS MAIL

March 1, 2020

Charles Ellinas

Egypt had another successful year in 2019 and this was showcased at the country’s annual petroleum show, EGYPS-2020, held mid-February in Cairo.

But 2020 is turning out to be a pivotal, but challenging, year for the oil and natural gas industries worldwide and Egypt and the East Med are not immune to it.

Opening the conference, Petroleum Minister Tarek El Molla highlighted the successes of 2019, with the oil and gas sector contributing 25 per cent to Egypt’s gross domestic product.

A total of 29 international agreements were signed during EGYPS-2020, reflecting the great potential and promising opportunities of the Egyptian petroleum sector.

International hydrocarbons interest in Cyprus confirmed - CYPRUS MAIL

FEBRUARY 24, 2019

The biggest and most important hydrocarbons conference and exhibition in Egypt and the East Med region, EGYPS 2019, took place in Cairo earlier this month, and Cyprus took part with a country pavilion showing the Cyprus Hydrocarbons Company (CHC) and natural gas public company (DEFA) among others.

In a wide-ranging interview about the conference, Egypt’s Petroleum Minister Tarek El Molla spoke about the country’s oil and gas achievements in 2018 and plans for 2019. The great success of 2018 was accelerating natural gas production, with Zohr at the forefront, as a result of which, by the end of the year, domestic gas consumption was exceeded for the first time since 2014. This helped Egypt become self-sufficient, stop LNG imports in October and re-start exports. By January Shell’s Idku LNG plant was exporting 0.52 billion cubic feet per day (bcf/d).

The development of Zohr is reaching its final stage, and is expected to achieve 3.2 bcf/d plateau production by the end of 2019. This will allow the Damietta LNG plant to restart exports later in the year, once outstanding arbitration issues are resolved.

ExxonMobil to reportedly announce large discovery in Cyprus' plot 10 next week - KATHIMERINI

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 13, 2019, 20:23

American energy giant ExxonMobil is expected to announce a discovery of a large gas reserve in plot 10 of Cyprus' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) next week, according to Cyprus' Sigma Live news network.

The Cypriot station referred to a report by Italy's Agenzia Nova that cited a high-level Cypriot source at the the Egypt Petroleum Show (EGYPS) in Cairo which ended on Wednesday.

The source, which reportedly spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the reserve isn't as large as the Zohr gas field in the Egyptian sector of the Mediterranean Sea but “has a similar reserve.”

EGYPS Day 1 Highlights - ENTERPRISE

Tuesday, 12 February 2019

New, investor-friendly production-sharing agreements are in the spotlight as gov’t pushes Egypt as a regional energy hub. The three-day Egypt Petroleum Show, which got underway yesterday, is best thought of as the physical embodiment of the Sisi administration’s strategy to position Egypt as the premier eastern Mediterranean energy hub. Domestic and international media offered wall-to-wall coverage.

If you read nothing else, read this from Reuters: “Egypt’s gas output will get a boost this year as the country’s huge Zohr field nears peak production and with USD 1.8 bn in investment from BP, officials said on Monday, as Egypt returns to export markets and positions itself as a regional hub.” Egypt is leveraging its “strategic location and well-developed infrastructure to become a key international trading and distribution center for gas, a potentially remarkable turnaround for a country that spent about USD 3 bn on annual liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports as recently as 2016.”

Digging into the highlights from yesterday:

Gov’t puts pen to paper on strategy for Egypt’s energy hub ambitions - ENTERPRISE

Thursday, 3 January 2019

Gov’t puts pen to paper on EastMed energy hub strategy: A government committee has drafted a strategy to advance Egypt’s plan to become the premier energy hub in the Eastern Mediterranean region, according to a Cabinet statement. The strategy involves studying and benchmarking similar projects elsewhere, conducting a cost–benefit analysis, and devising short- and long-term action plans. We could also see our ports become the first to set up natural gas marine fuel stations along the eastern Mediterranean. The committee will hand its recommendation to cabinet for review.

This comes as friendlier oil and gas contracts are set to take effect this quarter: We had noted last October that the Oil Ministry is planning to roll out new production sharing contracts with friendlier terms for international oil companies. The new framework, which is set to take effect this quarter, would grant the companies a larger share of the output and allow them to sell their share of production to anyone they like. This would replace the current, more rigid system, which gives producers only one-third of output and sets the government as the only buyer of their share of production at preset prices. Taken with a push — emphasized last week by President Abdel Fattah El Sisi — for more refining capacity as well as for the repayment of arrears to E&P companies, the move could significantly improve an already bright climate for oil and gas players in Egypt.

USD 27.3 bn to be invested in gas fields, USD 15.5 bn worth of exploration agreements to be signed next year - ENTERPRISE

Wednesday, 25 October 2017

USD 27.3 bn to be invested in gas fields next year: Some 230 new wells will be drilled at a cost of USD 2 bn in 2018, while approximately USD 27.3 bn will be invested in the Zohr, North Alexandria, and Nooros fields, Oil Minister Tarek El Molla said yesterday, Al Shorouk reports. 

El Molla also forecasts signing 83 new exploration agreements worth a total of USD 15.5 bn, in addition to USD 3.8 bn worth of new petroleum refining projects. 

Natural gas projects are expected to increase 50% in 2018, with that rate accelerating to 100% by 2020, El Molla said. The minister also announced that the second edition of the Egypt Petroleum Show will kick off on 12 February 2018 to showcase short- and long-term plans in the oil and gas sector.

Egypt turning the corner - IN CYPRUS / CYPRUS WEEKLY

February 26, 2017
Charles Ellinas

Tarek El Molla took over his role as Egypt’s Minister of Petroleum in September 2015, just after the discovery of the giant Zohr gas field. Since then, Egypt’s natural gas fortunes have been undergoing a massive transformation.

Firstly, gas from Zohr is expected to be achieved end of this year, and Egypt is now boldly predicting that it will achieve self-sufficiency by end of 2018, and re-start exports by 2020.

Egypt is in the process of implementing a modernisation programme with six major objectives to reform and transform all aspects of its oil and gas industry over the next four years:

Video: EGYPS coverage, interview with BP's CEO, Bob Dudley - DMC TV CHANNEL / EGYPS

Osama Kamal interviews Bob Dudley - CEO of BP (approx. 12 minutes, @1:07:14) at the recent (14-16 Ferbruary 2017) Egypt Petroleum Show EGYPS 2017. Among other things he explains the reasoning behind a farm-out agreement after a find has already been made, OPEC's balancing act with the advent of shale gas and his great optimism on Egypt. BP's 2016-2017 investments were the largest in Egypt than in any other part of the world (BP operates in over 40 countries). 

Video: EGYPS coverage, interview with CEO of ENI - DMC TV CHANNEL / EGYPS

Osama Kamal interviews Claudio Descalzi (approx. 9 minutes, @57:50), CEO of ENI at the recent (14-16 Ferbruary 2017) Egypt Petroleum Show EGYPS 2017. Among other interesting things Descalzi says he expects the Zohr farm-out deal with Rosneft to be finalised by end of March 2017. Both BP (10%, signed) and Rosneft (30%) have an option by end of 2017 to increase their share in Zohr's Shoruk block by an additional 5%, which would leave Shorouk's owners as follows: 50% ENI, Rosneft 40%, BP 10%.