ENERGY: Cyprus receives intense international interest for gas supply tender - FINANCIAL MIRROR

13 September, 2019

The first phase of Cyprus Gas Company’s (DEFA) tender process for the supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) has triggered considerable interest from major international players such as Shell, BP, Eni and Total.

According to DEFA, 25 suppliers, among the most dominant in the global LNG market, are seeking to supply gas to Cyprus and have submitted the prerequisites to qualify for the next stages of bidding and negotiation.

“The intense market competition for LNG supplies confirms that the strategy to acquire an FSRU was a decision toward the right direction,” a DEFA statement said.

Bidders/suppliers participating in the next round of bidding and negotiating are; Gunvor International B.V. Amsterdam, Naturgy LNG Marketing, Centrica LNG, Endesa Energia, Cheniere Marketing International LLP, Equinor ASA, Novatek Gas & Power Asia Pte, Shell International Trading Middle East, Enel Global Trading, Eni Trading & Shipping, Total Gas & Power Asia Private, Osaka Gas Kabushiki Gaisha, Powerglobe LLC, Repsol LNG Holding, Petronas LNG, BP Gas Marketing, Vitol, B.B. Energy (ASIA), Mytilineos, Uniper Global Commodities SE, Marubeni Corporation, SONATRACH and Public Gas Corporation (DEPA), Eni (Gas & LNG Marketing and Power), Glencore Energy UK and Mitsui & Co.

Greece's Hellenic Petroleum sell-off stalls as no bids made - REUTERS

APRIL 3, 2019 / 7:03 PM
Angeliki Koutantou

• Glencore/CIEP and Vitol/Sonatrach were shortlisted
• 50.1 pct stake in Hellenic worth about $1.5 bln
• Privatisation agency’s board to discuss next steps 

ATHENS, April 3 (Reuters) - No binding bids have been submitted for a majority stake in Greece’s biggest oil refiner Hellenic Petroleum, dealing a blow to a key part of a planned sell-off of state assets mandated by international bailouts.

Switzerland-based commodities trader and miner Glencore had teamed up with CIEP Participations, and Vitol, the world’s largest oil trader, with Algeria’s Sonatrach after they were shortlisted to bid for a 50.1 percent stake in Hellenic.

Greece’s privatisation agency said the lack of bids was “due to reasons related to the short-listed parties and recent developments in the international environment that affect the consortia.” It did not elaborate.

Greece moving closer to sales of ELPE and DEPA, minister asserts - ENERGY PRESS / BLOOMBERG

09/JAN/2019

Greece has crossed a key hurdle to the sale of a controlling stake in ELPE (Hellenic Petroleum) as it rushes to meet its privatization pledge after emerging from its third and final bailout.

In a Bloomberg interview, energy minister Giorgos Stathakis said Greece has reached an accord with potential buyers of the ELPE stake – valued at the current market price of 1.16 billion euros and seen as a flagship privatization – over the control of its wholly owned unit, ELPE Upstream. Under the accord, the state will own 50.1 percent of ELPE Upstream, which holds Hellenic Petroleum’s hydrocarbon exploration and concession rights.

“Talks with the potential buyers of the 50.1 percent stake in Hellenic Petroleum over Elpe Upstream have finished and all issues have been resolved,” Stathakis said in the interview in Athens.

PetroChina said to agree to 2018 deal to lift Libya oil - WORLD OIL / BLOOMBERG

March/1/2018

Salma El Wardany, Laura Hurst

CAIRO and LONDON (Bloomberg) -- PetroChina Co. agreed to an annual contract to buy Libyan crude after similar deals by oil majors like Royal Dutch Shell Plc and BP Plc, underscoring a recovery in the North African country’s production even as its political uncertainty persists.

The term contract is the Chinese oil producer’s first with Libya’s National Oil Corp. since 2013, according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because they aren’t authorized to speak to the media. BP and Shell also agreed in January to annual deals to buy crude from Libya.

NOC’s list of 2017 term buyers -- including Eni SpA, Total SA, OMV AG, Repsol SA, Rosneft PJSC, Lukoil PJSC and Glencore Plc -- will continue for 2018, and only Shell, BP and PetroChina will be added to the list, the person said.

Egypt with Eni to fast-track Zohr gas output - WORLD OIL

JAN/31/2018
SALMA EL WARDANY

CAIRO (Bloomberg) -- Egypt is working with Eni SpA, operator of the giant Zohr gas field, to fast-track output and end the country’s need to import liquefied natural gas as early as this year, Oil Minister Tarek el-Molla said

Zohr, the largest undersea gas discovery in the Mediterranean, will produce 1.7 Bcfgd before the end of 2018, el-Molla said in a televised ceremony to inaugurate the field. Egypt is talking with Rome-based Eni to increase output to reach the 2019 production target this year instead, he said.

“God willing, by the end of the year when we reach the second phase of production, we can stop importing LNG,” el-Molla said Wednesday.

Egypt's Giant Zohr Gas Field Starts Production - BLOOMBERG

Tarek El-Molla(Photographer: Yasser Al-Zayet/AFP via Getty Images

December 16, 2017, 3:34 PM GMT+2

Salma El Wardany

• Field starts pumping gas to Egypt national network: El-Molla
• Zohr field may turn Egypt from LNG importer to gas exporter

Egypt’s Eni SpA-operated Zohr natural gas field has started production, bringing the country closer to its goal of energy self-sufficiency.

Gas from the Mediterranean’s largest offshore field is pumped to a facility in Port Said city, to be prepared for delivery to the national distribution network, with initial production of 350 million cubic feet per day, oil minister Tarek El-Molla said in a statement Saturday. Daily output is set to rise to about 1 billion cubic feet in June and 2.7 billion by the end of 2019, he said.

Production from Zohr will help the most populous Arab nation achieve “self-sufficiency of natural gas, ease the burden on the state budget and cut the imports bill," El-Molla said.

Eni's Giant Gas Field Prompts Egypt to End Imports in 2018 - BLOOMBERG

November 15, 2017, 9:52 AM GMT+2Salma El Wardany — With assistance by Hussein Slim, Fatma Abusief, and Tracy Alloway

• Zohr field will start production at 350,000 cubic feet a day
• New gas laws to be adopted in days: Oil Minister El-Molla

Egypt's El-Molla on Zohr Gas Field, Attracting Investors

Egypt will stop importing liquefied natural gas in 2018 and may eventually export gas after it starts producing this year at the giant Eni SpA-operated Zohr field off the country’s Mediterranean coast, Oil Minister Tarek El-Molla said.

Zohr’s output will mostly supply the domestic market, and the nation’s two existing gas-liquefaction facilities are large enough to process any available surplus into LNG for international sale in 2019, El-Molla said Tuesday in an interview in Abu Dhabi. If Zohr and other gas fields generate enough supplies, Egypt may consider adding a third LNG-exporting terminal, he said.

Egypt to award 12-cargo LNG tender to Gas Natural Fenosa, Swiss traders -trade sources - REUTERS

NOVEMBER 6, 2017 / 6:29 PMReporting by Oleg Vukmanovic; Editing by Susan Fenton

LONDON, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Egypt is expected to award its 12-cargo liquefied natural gas (LNG) tender to Spain’s Gas Natural Fenosa and three Swiss-based trading houses for supplies in the first quarter of 2018, trade sources said.

The final allocation may change but traders currently expect Egyptian Natural Gas Holding (EGAS) to award the Spanish gas company five shipments, trader Trafigura to supply three, Vitol three and Glencore one.

EGAS is seeking to bring in nine of the cargoes via Egypt’s two floating import terminals and three cargoes through a Jordanian terminal.

In the past EGAS has imported LNG through the Jordanian facility, where cargoes were converted back into gas and pumped through pipelines to Egypt. 

Rosneft looking into expanding Zohr stake - ENTERPRISE

Sunday, 22 October 2017

INVESTMENT WATCH- Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin told reporters the company is considering buying an additional 5% stake in Zohr, Reuters reports. Rosneft recently closed its acquisition of a 30% stake in the gas field — first announced last year — from Eni for USD 1.125 bn. Sechin also added some of the gas produced from Zohr “could be supplied to Europe.”

This comes as EGAS sources say that the field will begin production as early as next month at a daily capacity of 350 mcf, according to Youm7. Production will double to around 700 mcf/d before the end of 1Q2018, the source added.

Qatar turns down new LNG deals with Egypt - traders - REUTERS

JULY 26, 2017 / 5:11 PM
Oleg Vukmanovic

LONDON, July 26 (Reuters) - Qatar has turned down several requests by third-party traders to make fresh liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies available to Egypt, raising concerns that a diplomatic row between the countries may curb regional energy trade, sources said.

Top LNG producer Qatar supplies around 60 percent of Egypt's LNG but relations suffered after Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut ties and imposed sanctions on the gas-rich Gulf state last month, accusing it of supporting terrorism. Doha denies the charges.

Eastern Libya Takes Away Glencore’s Crude - PETROLEUM AFRICA

Monday, June 19, 2017

Authorities in Eastern Libya have withdrawn Glencore’s rights to export oil from the Marsa al Hariga port. The withdrawal of rights can be attributed to the fact that one of the oil trader’s major shareholders is Qatari firm Qatar Holding LLC.

Leaders in eastern Libya are apparently joining the rest of the Arab world in the isolation of Qatar for its alleged sponsoring of terrorism.

If Glencore does not export the production from the Marsa al Hariga port, this effectively takes 250,000 bpd of Libyan crude off the market as the oil trader has exclusive marketing rights for the oil coming from the eastern fields.

Rosneft takes key step in push into Middle East - FINANCIAL TIMES

APRIL 3, 2017
Henry Foy in Moscow and David Sheppard in Lausanne; Add'l reporting by Anjli Raval

Russian oil group to expand trading after trumpeting agreements in Egypt and Libya

Russia’s Rosneft will this week take custody of its first independently sourced cargo of Kurdish crude oil from Turkey’s port of Ceyhan, a key step in its strategic push into Middle East energy markets and its attempts to expand trading.

The world’s largest listed oil company by output has spent the past four months trumpeting agreements to buy oil from Egypt, Libya and Iraqi Kurdistan, drilling exploration wells in southern Iraq and considering opportunities in Lebanon, as it chases deals to fuel its fledgling international expansion.

Rosneft signs LNG deal with Egypt for 10 cargoes this year- MENAFN / GULF TIMES

21/03/2017

Russia's largest crude producer, Rosneft joined traders from Trafigura Group to Glencore in boosting liquefied natural gas deliveries to Egypt before the country restores domestic production.

Rosneft, which seeks to expand its international gas business, signed a contract to supply the north African nation with 10 LNG cargoes this year, Rosneft said yesterday by email. The deal, which followed a debut contract of three cargoes last year, will further strengthen the strategic partnership between Rosneft and Egypt, the company said.

Rosneft and Russia's Evolving Oil Strategy Explained - THE DIPLOMAT

March 10, 2017
Nicholas Trickett

Russia’s recent deals in the Middle East aren’t just about expanding its influence, they’re part of a larger strategy.

Rosneft is deploying its preferred long-term prepayment model to political effect in Kurdistan and Libya, distributing risks between producers and consumers and taking advantage of its access to state money. That model has also earned it closer ties to trading houses like Glencore and Trafigura. The firm applied the same approach to securing a customer for its Venezuelan production—another risky market—in India with its acquisition of Essar Oil.

Rosneft Eyes Cooperation With Qatar in LNG Trade – Company Source - SPUTNIK NEWS

11.12.2016, updated 10:19

Russia’s oil giant Rosneft sees opportunities for cooperation with Qatar in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) trade and logistics, a source in the company told reporters. 

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Qatar’s Investment Authority (QIA), a sovereign wealth fund, is buying a 19.5-percent stake in Rosneft in a consortium with mining firm Glencore. Separately, Rosneft is mulling buying a stake in Egypt's Zohr gas field. 

"Qatar is the largest LNG producer, Rosneft is about to become a stakeholder in Zohr, so there are opportunities for synergy in terms of logistics and trading," the source said. 

"Glencore will hedge a significant part of its stake, most of it," the source said, adding Glencore and the Qatar Investment Authority had an equity stake in their consortium. 

Glencore comes out top as Egypt awards mega LNG import tender - REUTERS

Mon Nov 28, 2016 | 3:37pm GMTReporting by Mark Tay; Additional reporting by Henning Gloystein in Singapore and Eric Knecht in Cairo; Editing by Susan Fenton

• EGAS awards mega tender, taking mainly 2017 cargoes
• Glencore emerges as top supplier, followed by Trafigura
• Jan-Mar 2017 cargoes priced at about 15 percent to crude
• Remainder of 2017 cargoes priced lower as fundamentals expected to weaken

Egypt will import around 60 cargoes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) next year and Glencore will be the biggest supplier, trading sources with knowledge of the results of Egypt's mega tender for 2017 and 2018 said on Monday.

Glencore bagged the right to supply around 25 liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes to Egypt, while second-placed Trafigura is understood to have won the right to supply about 18 cargoes of the super-cooled fuel, the trading sources said.

Other parties successful in Egypt Natural Gas Holding's (EGAS) tender included BB Energy, Gunvor and Vitol, the sources added.

Egypt Makes Its LNG Importer Picks For Remainder Of 2016 - OILPRICE.COM

By Zainab Calcuttawala - Sep 23, 2016, 4:33 PM CDT

Egypt has chosen three firms to supply liquefied natural gas to its markets for the remainder of 2016, closing a tender it had issued two weeks ago, according to a recent report by Reuters.

Glencore, an Anglo-Swiss commodities trading house, will supply cargo for October; Dutch Trafigura will deliver a shipment for November; and U.K.-based B.B. Energy – a relatively new player in the LNG trade – will arrange the December order.

Oil traders look again at floating storage as onshore tanks fill - ENERGY VOICE / BLOOMBERG

Written by Bloomberg - 11/02/2016

The world is so awash with crude, the boss of BP Plc said people will be filling their “swimming pools” with it by the end of the year.

While the company’s Chief Executive Officer Bob Dudley bemoaned this bearish outlook for oil, traders were eyeing a potentially profitable opportunity: turning supertankers into temporary floating storage facilities.

Trading houses including Vitol Group, Koch Supply & Trading LP and Glencore Plc, plus the in-house trading arms of BP and Royal Dutch Shell Plc, collectively made billions of dollars from 2008 to 2009 stockpiling crude at sea. At the peak of the floating storage spree, sheltered anchorages in the North Sea, the Persian Gulf, the Singapore Strait and off South Africa each hosted dozens of supertankers.

Chris Bake, a senior executive at Vitol, the world’s largest independent oil trader, gave the clearest indication yet this week that traders are considering the same strategy again.

“Primary and secondary storage is pretty much full,” Bake said in London Wednesday. “It’s probably a good time to be a vessel owner.”