DESFA lands LNG project in Kuwait - KATHIMERINI

11 December 2020 : 22:21
Chryssa Liaggou

Greece’s gas grid operator is making a dynamic entry into the international scene after landing a significant project in Kuwait.

The Hellenic Gas Transmission System Operator (DESFA) has undertaken the operation and maintenance of a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal under construction in the Gulf country, which is expected to start operating in 2021.

DESFA outbid six other suitors short-listed by KIPIC, a subsidiary of the state oil company of Kuwait, to secure the management and maintenance of the LNG station being constructed at al-Zour, some 90 kilometers from the country’s capital city.

The Greek company announced that the contract it has secured with KIPIC will last for a minimum of five years, and DESFA earned it after the completion of the second and final stage of the tender.

It added that a key role in its successful bid belonged to the high specialization and expertise of DESFA’s stakeholders, Snam and Enagas, and to the experience that the Greek gas grid operator has gained from managing the country’s transmission system and the LNG terminal on the island of Revythousa.

Firms including MOL, Osaka, Gaslog, chosen in Cyprus FSRU LNG tender - REUTERS

LONDON, July 17 (Reuters) 12:44 PM

Three joint ventures have been selected by Cyprus in the first stage of a tender to provide a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) to import liquefied natural gas (LNG)
The first joint venture is led by China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering, Natural Gas Public Company of Cyprus (DEFA) said on its website.
The second comprises Samsung C&T, Posco E&C, LNG ship-builder Mitsui O.S.K. Lines and Japanese utility Osaka Gas
The third consortium includes LNG shipping company Gaslog , a unit of Spanish utility Enagas and Italian gas infrastructure company SNAM .

Cyprus aims to have the FSRU vessel in place and importing by 2021 and has a 101 million euro ($113 million) grant from the European Union.

It requested expressions of interest last month to supply the LNG, with a deadline of Sept. 6. ($1 = 0.8919 euros) 

Cyprus nearing transition to a new LNG era - FINANCIAL MIRROR

GasLog's LNG carrier Methane Julia Louise loading
LNG from Shell’s mighty floating LNG Prelude

12 July, 2019

Cyprus Natural Gas Public Company (DEFA), announced Friday it has successfully completed the first step of its troubled tender procedure for the installation of a €250 mln LNG Import Terminal plus infrastructure.

Three international consortia comprising of industry leaders are bidding for the multi-million contract. The bidders are;

1. Joint Venture China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering CO, Ltd – CPP, AKTOR S.A., METRON S.A.
2. Consortium Samsung C&T, Posco E&C, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Osaka Gas
3. European Consortium (DAMCO Energy S.A., ENAGAS Services Solution S.L.U., GasLog LNG Services Ltd., SNAM Spa, TERNA S.A.)

DEFA said the wider range of companies expressing an interest highlighted the “importance of the tender at an international level as well as its viability”.

Chairman of DEFA Symeon Kassianides said: "The great interest shown for this important Cyprus energy project by European and international players of the gas market, is just the first milestone for the realization of a long-term project that is directly linked to the country's energy upgrade and energy pluralism.”

The transfer of the 66% of DESFA’ shares to SENFLUGA Energy Infrastructure Holdings S.A. is completed - HRADF

Athens, 20/12/2018

PRESS RELEASE

The successful completion of another important milestone of the Hellenic Republic's program for the development of assets by HRADF marks the transfer of 66% stake (31% owned by HRADF and 35% owned by HELPE) to SENFLUGA Energy Infrastructure Holdings S.A. for a total amount of €535 million.

The business substance of DESFA’s new shareholder, comprising of the European energy companies Snam S.p.A., Enagás Internacional S.L.U. και Fluxys S.A., certifies the attractiveness of the Greek market, highlights the investment prospects of Greece and makes the country as a natural gas hub in Europe.

With respect to the above, the Executive Chairman of HRADF, Mr. Aris Xenofos, stated: “An extremely successful tender process, which attracted considerable investment interest, was completed today. The new era that starts for DESFA strengths also the role and the position of our country as an energy hub for the EU but and the wider geographical region. We have confidence in DESFA's new shareholders and the development plans they will deliver, transferring their international experience and know-how to the company. We are here support them as the case may be”.

Upgraded LNG terminal set for launch amid US interest - ENERGY PRESS

12 SEPT 2018

A third storage tank added to an LNG terminal at Revythoussa, an islet close to Athens, is set for its commercial launch between late October and early November, slightly behind schedule.

The new tank, which promises to increase the facility’s overall capacity to 225,000 cubic meters, almost double its previous size, is currently undergoing test runs.

The facility’s capacity upgrade represents a pivotal development for the LNG terminal, a key asset belonging to DESFA, the natural gas grid operator, whose 66 percent is being privatized. A consortium comprised of Italy’s Snam, Spain’s Enagás Internacional and Belgium’s Fluxys has emerged as the winning bidder with a 535 million-euro offer.

DESFA is already engaged in talks with Greek and foreign firms interested in utilizing the upgraded facility and reserving capacities. They include two US firms, Cheniere and Tellurian, amid initiatives being taken for American gas imports into Greece. Cheniere and Tellurian have enquired about usage fees, capacities, technical details and port capabilities.

All firms interested in utilizing the upgraded LNG terminal at Revythoussa have made clear they are eyeing both the Greek market and the wider region to the north.

Azeri natural gas sellers book 8.6 Bcm/year long-term capacity to Italy: TAP - S&P GLOBAL PLATTS

Brussels, 23 Aug 2018 | 11:28 UTC
Author: Siobhan Hall; Editor: Alisdair Bowles

• 10 Bcm/year Greece
• -Italy TAP gas link to open in 2020
• Shah Deniz 2 sellers have 25-year capacity contracts
• TAP to offer short-term capacity in future auctions

Brussels — Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz 2 natural gas field producers have booked around 8.6 Bcm/year of long-term capacity to Italy in the planned 10 Bcm/year Trans-Adriatic Pipeline, developer TAP's head of communication, Lisa Givert, told S&P Global Platts on Thursday.

TAP is the last leg of the so-called Southern Gas Corridor that is to enable Europe to import gas initially from the 16 Bcm/year Shah Deniz 2 field, a new supply source.

Snam-led consortium in 535 mln euro deal for stake in Greece's gas grid operator DESFA- INDIA TIMES / REUTERS

July 20, 2018, 16:39 IST

ATHENS: A consortium led by Italy's Snam will take a majority stake in Greek gas grid operator DESFA under a 535 million euro ($623 million) deal signed on Friday, the country's HRADF privatisation agency said.

A consortium of Snam, Spain's Enagas Internacional and Belgium's Fluxys will buy a 66 percent stake from the government and top Greek oil refiner Hellenic Petroleum .

A Storm Is Brewing In The Southern Gas Corridor - OIL PRICE

Jun 23, 2018, 4:00 PM CDT

Vanand Meliksetian

No fewer than Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko attended a gathering in Central Turkey on 12 June. The amount and variety of attendees of this meeting reveal a common interest in one field of geopolitical developments: energy and more specifically natural gas.

The opening ceremony of the 1.850 kilometers long Trans Anatolian Pipeline, TANAP, starting at the Shah Deniz gas field in Azerbaijan and ending in Turkey, is the last step before connecting to the European grid in Greece and Italy. TANAP is part of the Southern Gas Corridor, which was the dream of many European leaders and officials to create an alternative to Russian gas.

Transgaz loses bid for Greece’s grid operator - BUSINESS REVIEW

April 20, 2018 12:08
Sorin Melenciuc 

The consortium led by Spanish company Reganosa, including Romanian state-owned monopoly Transgaz and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), lost the bid for Greece’s grid operator DESFA, Athens accepting a EUR 535 million offer from the rival consortium led by Italy’s Snam, according to Reuters.

DESFA runs a gas transport network by pipelines of 1,459 km in Greece. The winning bidder was a consortium of Italy’s Snam, Spain’s Enagas Internacional and Belgium’s Fluxys.

The sale of a majority stake in DESFA is mandated under Greece’s latest international financial bailout. The Greek government is selling a 31 percent stake in DESFA and Hellenic Petroleum, Greece’s biggest oil refiner, 35 percent.

For Greece is the second attempt to sale the company, after a previous EUR 400 million deal with Azerbaijan’s SOCAR fell through.

For Transgaz, the bid was the first major attempt to step outside Romania, in an area dominated for decades by Russian giant Gazprom, the main gas supplyer of the countries from the region.

Greece accepts Snam-led consortium's offer for gas grid DESFA - REUTERS

APRIL 19, 2018 / 7:30 PM / 2 DAYS AGO

Angeliki Koutantou

• Athens relaunched the sale last year
• Named Snam-led consortium “preferred investor”
• Greece a crossroads for new gas routes, consortium says

ATHENS, April 19 (Reuters) - Greece has accepted a 535 million euro ($662 million) offer from a consortium led by Italy’s Snam for a majority stake in gas grid operator DESFA, naming it the “preferred investor”, its privatisation agency said on Thursday.

DESFA runs a network for transporting gas from the Greek-Bulgarian and Greek-Turkish borders via a 1,459-km (907-mile) pipeline. It also has a liquefied gas terminal facility on an islet off Athens.

Strategically-placed, Greece could represent an important crossroads for the diversification of supplies and new natural gas routes in Europe, the consortium said.

It anticipated the transaction would be finalised in the second half of 2018 after securing approvals, including antitrust clearance.

At least one DESFA sale offer believed to exceed €500m - ENERGY PRESS

16/04/2018

At least one of two second-round offers submitted last week by two consortiums participating in an international tender offering 66 percent of DESFA, the natural gas grid operator, exceeds 500 million euros, according to energypress sources.

Such a level, if confirmed, would be well above the tender’s first-round offers and a winning 400 million-euro bid that had been submitted by Azerbaijan’s Socar to a previous tender, also offering 66 percent of DESFA, which was not finalized.

In another bonus, the government appears to have secured Greek State rights for natural gas projects and infrastructure of strategic interest in a shareholders’ agreement to accompany the transfer of DESFA’s 66 percent to a new strategic investor.

DESFA bids to finally be opened at end of this week - ENERGY PRESS

26 March 2018

Offers made by two bidding teams to an international tender offering a 66 percent stake of DESFA, the natural gas grid operator, are finally expected to be opened at the end of this week, a month and a half after they had been submitted.

TAIPED, the state privatization fund, has virtually completed its thorough processing and inspections of the offers submitted by the two bidding consortiums, while the participating teams have provided responses as to which respective team member plans to assume the management role, sources have informed.

For quite some time now, officials and pundits have appeared confident the offers may exceed 500 million euros, 25 percent over an offer made by Azerbaijan’s Socar in a previous and unfinished sale attempt.

Snam plans to ‘establish Athens as base for southeast Mediterranean’ - ENERGY PRESS

23/FEB/2018

Snam will aim to contribute to Greece becoming a regional energy hub in the southeast Mediterranean, Federico Ermoli, chief international assets officer at Italy’s Snam, heading one of two bidding teams vying for a 66 percent stake in DESFA, the natural gas grid operator, has stressed in an interview with Greek daily Kathimerini.

Snam and its bidding partners, Spain’s Enagás Internacional and Belgium’s Fluxys, submitted a binding offer to the DEFSA tender last Friday. Staged by TAIPED, the state privatization fund, its content is still being processed before offers are opened, probably late next week.

Another Spanish entry, Regasificadora del Noroeste (Reganosa Asset Investments) joined forces with Romania’s Transgaz and the EBRD, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, for the other offer.

“We aspire to further develop the company and contribute to making Greece an energy hub in the Mediterranean for natural gas stemming from various regions,” Ermoli remarked, while adding that DESFA requires strong partners capable of making investments for the future of the firm, country and its geopolitical role.

Commenting on Greece’s strategic importance for Snam, Ermoli said the firm intends to establish an office base in Athens to manage its activities concerning interests in the southeast Meditteranean region.

Greece gets two binding bids in gas grid sale - REUTERS

FEBRUARY 16, 2018 / 7:01 PMReporting by Angeliki Koutantou; Additional reporting by Stephen Jewkes in Milan; Editing by Karolina Tagaris and Jane Merriman

ATHENS, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Greece has received two binding bids for a 66 percent stake in its gas grid operator DESFA, the Greek privatisation agency (HRADF) said on Friday, a sale that is a key condition of the country’s international bailout.

The agency said bids were submitted by a consortium of Italy’s Snam, Spain’s Enagas Internacional and Belgium’s Fluxys, and a consortium of Spain’s Regasificadora del Noroeste (Reganosa), Romania’s Transgaz and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

Friday’s deadline for binding bids comes ahead of a euro zone finance ministers’ meeting in Brussels on Monday which will assess Greece’s bailout progress and decide on disbursing more bailout loans.

A share purchase agreement and a shareholders’ agreement for DESFA are due to be signed by April for the sale to conclude by June, before Greece exits its third bailout in August.

DESFA bids of 400 mln or over, minister says - KATHIMERINI

02.08.2017 : 22:42
CHRYSSA LIAGGOU

Energy Minister Giorgos Stathakis has given candidate buyers of gas grid operator DESFA a 400-million-euro bar to clear ahead of next Monday’s submission of non-binding bids.

The minister on Wednesday visited DESFA’s headquarters to learn about the company’s financial state and told employees there were three conditions that would secure the smooth development of the current process for the concession of a 66 percent stake to a strategic investor.

Two teams forming for DESFA tender, expected this week - ENERGY PRESS

20.6.2017 

Two camps appear to be forming as the main candidates in a new sale offering 66 percent of DESFA, Greece’s natural gas grid operator, whose tender could be announced this Thursday.

Italy’s Snam, emerging as the outright favorite, could bid alone or as part of a consortium with a non-operator co-investor such as the fund SFPI, which recently expressed an interest in DEFSA.

TAP pipeline reports progress through Greece - NEW EUROPE

17:43 MAY 4, 2017
New Europe Online/KG

Security is the project’s absolute priority, TAP says

The Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) on May 4 informed the Embassies located in Greece about the progress of the project, highlighting security as the project’s absolute priority.

The approximately 878 kilometre long TAP pipeline will connect with the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) at the Turkish-Greek border at Kipoi, cross Greece and Albania and the Adriatic Sea, before coming ashore in Southern Italy.

TAP’s Country Manager for Greece Rikard Scoufias focused on how TAP is being implemented in Greece with respect to local communities, as demonstrated in the engagement and consultation process followed; the extensive communication campaigns launched; the social and environmental investments programme drafted and implemented; and the benefits TAP brings to Greece – both present and future ones, TAP said in a press release.

Russian Gas in the Southern Gas Corridor Could Undermine the EU’s Diversification Plans - CACI ANALYST

MONDAY, 27 MARCH 2017
Ilgar Gurbanov

Gazprom has officially declared its willingness to use the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) as a route to deliver gas to Europe. TAP is an integral part of the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) which is one of the priority energy projects for the EU to ensure the continent’s security of supply from a non-Russian source. Although technical and legal possibilities exist for Gazprom’s use of TAP’s expanded capacity, the long-term contracts securing the pipeline’s initial capacity for Azerbaijani gas together with EU legislation makes this option less likely. Nevertheless, the possibility of a Russian bid for TAP could hamper the EU’s diversification plans and block future gas supplies from other non-Shah-Deniz sources.

Snam: First Azerbaijani gas will reach Italy in 2020 - NEWS.AZ

Thu 08 September 2016 17:34 GMT | 20:34 Local Time

The first Azerbaijani gas through Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) will reach Italian market in January 2020, Chief Executive Officer at Snam Marco Alverà said.

According to Report, Alvera said during the construction of TAP, 231 olive trees in the area of Puglia will be relocated: "Initially 231, and then 1 700 olive trees will be relocated. Southern Gas Corridor worth 50 bln USD is of strategic importance for us.

Socar Hits Desfa Snag - NATURAL GAS EUROPE

July 26th, 2016, John Roberts

Azerbaijan's state energy company Socar is running into problems concerning its stake in Greece's natural gas grid operator, Desfa, with the Greek parliament expected to vote imminently for a crucial change concerning the value of Desfa.

As a result, Socar is expected to send a delegation of senior officials to hold talks in Athens this week. They will address two main problems. The first concerns the size of Socar's stake in Desfa. The second – which is both far more important and far more complex – concerns the methodology of accounting within Desfa.

The first point is relatively straightforward. When Socar won the tender to acquire a 66% stake in Desfa for €400mn in June 2013, purchasing a 35% stake from Hellenic Petroleum and a 31% stake from Greek government, it had strong EU backing, not least because the leading alternative bidder was a Russian company, Sintez. At the time, the EU was also worried that Gazprom would seek to purchase Desfa's parent company, Depa, the Greek natural gas supply company. In the event, however, nobody bid for Depa and only Socar bid for Desfa.