Elharrar vows involvement if Israel-Cyprus gas field dispute unresolved - THE JERUSALEM POST

FEBRUARY 6, 2022 17:15

If the Israeli and Cypriot companies licensed to develop the Aphrodite-Yishai gas field do not reach an agreement on the matter by March 4, the state will get involved, Energy Minister Karin Elharrar said last week in a letter to Nammax Oil and Gas Ltd.

“Israel never gave up on its rights to the Yishai Reservoir, including the demand that the reservoir not be opened unilaterally... This stance has been made clear to all sides a number of times on different occasions,” she wrote in response to a letter from Herzliya-based Nammax, which, together with Israel Opportunity, holds the license to operate the field.

Israel and Cyprus have been involved in a years-long dispute over the development of the gas field in the Mediterranean. About 10% of the Aphrodite-Yishai gas field is in Israel’s exclusive economic zone, and the rest belongs to Cyprus. The two countries agreed in 2010 to develop it together.

The Energy Ministry estimates the Israeli part of Aphrodite-Yishai has 10 billion to 12 billion cubic meters of natural gas, much less than the Leviathan gas field, which has an estimated 605 bcm.

After Cyprus moved toward developing Aphrodite, the Energy Ministry under former minister Yuval Steinitz agreed with its Cypriot counterpart last March that the companies involved would negotiate and reach an agreement within a year.

Strong results from initial Karish wells offshore Israel - OFFSHORE MAGAZINE

Sep 12th, 2019

ATHENS, Greece – Energean has issued updates (Results For Half Year Ended 30 June 2019) on its development and exploration campaigns in the eastern Mediterranean Sea.

The main project is the Karish/Tanin gas development offshore Israel, where the drillship Stena DrillMAX recently completed drilling of two of the Karish Main wells.

In both cases, the outcome was positive, with a 45-m (147-ft) gross gas column encountered in the D-sands interval. Also, fluid samples from the main reservoir indicate a higher than foreseen condensate ratio.

Drilling of the final well in the program, Karish Main-01, is under way and this is expected to finish during 4Q. The three wells will deliver an initial 4.3 bcm of gas sales into the Israeli domestic market.

Later this year the FPSO hull is due to sail from China to Singapore.

In July, Israel’s Petroleum Council awarded Energean and Israel Opportunity – Energy Resource four new offshore licenses (55, 56, 61, and 62) for block D, 45 km (28 mi) from the coast.

Four Further Licences Awarded to Energean for Oil and Gas Exploration in Israel’s Exclusive Economic Zone (“EEZ”) - ENERGEAN OIL & GAS

Wednesday, July 31 2019

Energean Oil and Gas plc (LSE: ENOG, TASE: אנאג ( is pleased to announce that Israel’s Petroleum Council has awarded the Company four new licences for oil and gas exploration in the Israeli EEZ. Energean submitted its proposal in partnership with Israeli Opportunity (20%). The awarded Licences were granted for Block D, located 45 km off the Israeli coast – and include Licences 55,56,61,62 (“Zone D”), offered in the recent Bid Round published by the Israeli Ministry of Energy. Energean has identified a prospect within Zone D analogous to the prolific Tamar Sand fields (Karish, Tamar, Leviathan etc) offshore Israel. The prospect is believed to extend towards the SW of the license contingent to further seismic processing. A relatively shallow Mesozoic prospect was also identified (four way closure).

Mathios Rigas, CEO of Energean, stated: “Energean has proven its ability and commitment to explore and develop resources in a timely and cost efficient manner in the East Med. The addition of the 4 new licenses contained in Zone D adds further upside potential to our portfolio”.

Two bid in Israel's offshore energy licenses tender - GLOBES

15 Jul, 2019 15:50
Amiram Barkat

The Ministry of Energy received only two bids from consortia including from UK companies Cairn and Soco, even though energy majors like ExxonMobil purchased tender documents.

As part of the second round of competitive bids for Israel's offshore natural gas and oil licenses tenders, only two offers have been received from consortia comprising Israeli and international companies.

The two bids were from: a consortium of Israeli company Ratio Oil Exploration (1992) LP (TASE:RATI.L) and two British companies Cairn Energy plc (LSE: CNE) and Soco International plc . (LSE: SIA): and a consortium of Energean Oil & Gas plc (LSE: ENOG; TASE: ENOG) and Israel opportunity.

Minister of National Infrastructure, Energy and Water Resources Yuval Steinitz said, "The arrival of additional European companies to Israel as well as the soon to be connected up Leviathan rig and continued development of the Karish-Tanin fields will lead to the dismantling of the monopoly and strengthening competition in this sector. We are continuing to work to make Israel into a regional energy power."

Ahead of London IPO, Delek Drilling buys 3 Israeli licenses - GLOBES

Yitzhak Tshuva

20 Mar, 2019 16:39
Amiram Barkat

Two of the licenses are land oil exploration licenses and the third is the Roei offshore gas exploration license.

Delek Drilling LP (TASE: DEDR.L) is acquiring additional oil and gas exploration licenses in preparation for implementation of its plan for splitting off its subsidiary, which will hold the Leviathan and Aphrodite natural gas reservoirs, and which will hold an offering on the London Stock Exchange.

The partnership, controlled by Delek Group Ltd. (TASE: DLEKG), whose controlling shareholder is Yitzhak Tshuva, today announced its entry into three new Israeli licenses: the Roei marine gas exploration license and the Yahel Hadash and Ofek Hadash land exploration licenses.

The Roei deal is based on exercising an option for 20% of the rights that Delek Drilling received in 2012 in lieu of its fee for its mediation role in the deal between the Ratio Oil Exploration (1992) LP (TASE:RATI.L) license holder (it was the Gal exploration permit at the time) and Italian company Edison, the operator for the license. Delek Drilling is now exercising its option to buy 5% more of the rights from Ratio in order to reach a 24.99% share of the rights in the license. Delek Drilling will not pay a substantial amount for the deal, beyond reimbursement for its proportional share of the partners' past expenses.

Israel Stays Mum as Development Work Begins at Giant Cyprus Gas Field - HAARETZ

Jul 24, 2018 10:49 PM
Ora Coren

Countries have failed to agree on rights of license holders in adjacent Israeli field, but Aphrodite partners begin development anyway

After years of delays, development of Cyprus’ Aphrodite gas field is getting under way without any Israeli government role, even though part of Aphrodite’s reservoir lies in Israeli economic waters and is licensed by the government for development.

Critics say Israel’s inaction jeopardizes not only 3 billion shekels ($820 million) in future tax revenues but also its ability to guarantee its stakes in other reservoirs shared with neighboring countries in the Eastern Mediterranean.

“It’s not clear, to say the least, why the government is acting this way, in particular the inexplicable ease with which it could cause a loss of 3 billion shekels in taxes,” said Rony Halman, the chairman of Israel Opportunity, a partner in the Ishai field adjacent to Aphrodite.

“The inaction of the Israeli government also threatens to create a dangerous precedent in connection with other joint reservoirs we have with our neighbors — Lebanon and Egypt,” Halman told TheMarker.

Israel and Cyprus disagree over Aphrodite Gas Field - THE TIMES OF ISRAEL

MAY 20, 2018, 1:04 AM

A disagreement over the ownership rights to the Aphrodite natural gas field in Cyprus is delaying billion-dollar plans to turn the eastern Mediterranean area into a larger energy hub. Aphrodite is located along the edge of Cyprus’ economic waters. One of its tips stretches across Cyprus’ border into Israel’s maritime zone. According to a recent estimate in Israel, there are as much as 10 billion cubic meters of gas worth close to $1.5 billion at stake. However, this amount is less than 10% of Aphrodite’s total reserves. Israel has said that it will not give up on this gas and that companies operating on the Israeli side are ready for legal action if Aphrodite is developed without them.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz have flown to Cyprus to discuss plans to join the two countries’ electricity grids and build a pipeline to supply Mainland Europe with their gas fields. Energy Minister Steinitz has said that he was optimistic that the dispute will be solved within six months and that the governments have asked the companies to reach an agreement among themselves on how much gas is located on each side’s economic waters. If the dispute is not resolved within a specified period, they will turn to an international expert, not an arbitrator. Cyprus’ Energy Minister Yiorgos Lakkotrypis has suggested a similar course of action.

Israel's 5% Claim on Gas in Cypriot Field Causes Dispute With Nicosia - HAARETZ

Nicos Anastasiades & Benjamin Netanyahu

May 11, 2018 5:42 AM
Ora Coren 

If Israel and Cyprus don’t reach an understanding within a few months, they will hire an international expert to propose a solution based on the two reservoirs’ estimated reserves

Energy Ministry Yuval Steinitz told Cypriot leaders Tuesday that Israel is demanding 5% or more of the production from the joint Aphrodite-Yishai natural- gas field in disputed Mediterranean waters, sources told TheMarker.

Steinitz, who attended the meeting in Nicosia with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said afterward in public that the dispute could be settled within six months but did not elaborate on Israel’s position.

“The professional opinion of the [Israeli] government is that at least 5% of the reservoir is Israeli,” said an Israeli official who asked not to be named. “The dispute with the Cypriots is about how the Israeli share will be guaranteed because it’s the Cypriots who will be developing the field.”

Gas dispute with Israel is in ‘no one’s interest’ - CYPRUS MAIL

MAY 6, 2018

Elias Hazou

Fresh reports this week of Cyprus and Israel resorting to arbitration to resolve a dispute over future earnings from the Aphrodite gas field appear to be driven by angst on the Israeli side.

The likelihood of the two sides going for arbitration seems far-fetched, said Constantinos Hadjistassou, assistant professor at the University of Nicosia.


“Nobody really wants that, so I was surprised to read these press reports. More likely, the Israelis are playing hard ball,” he said.

He was alluding to the article in Israeli news outlet Globes, citing sources claiming that the two neighboring nations might be seeking international arbitration sometime over the coming months.

The Aphrodite reservoir is located on the border between the economic waters of Israel and Cyprus, with most of the reservoir lying on the Cypriot side.

Owners of Israeli field seek to stop Cyprus deal with Egypt - CYPRUS MAIL

MARCH 14, 2018

George Psyllides

The owners of the rights in an Israeli natural gas field next to Cyprus’ Aphrodite reservoir have asked the Israeli government to take steps to stop the island signing a gas deal with Egypt as this would affect their interests, reports said.

Israeli business news portal Globes said the owners of the rights in the Ishai licence, a continuation of the Cypriot Aphrodite gas reservoir on the Israeli side of the boundary between the two countries’ economic zones, wrote to Petroleum Commissioner Yosi Wurzburger and to Minister of National Infrastructures, Energy and Water Resources, Yuval Steinitz claiming that the extraction of gas on the Cypriot side would lead to the extraction of gas from Ishai as well.

In Nicosia, a government source rebuffed the demand, according to the Cyprus News Agency.

“The claim, which is old, is unreasonable since they have officially admitted that the quantity discovered at Ishai is negligible and cannot be recovered,” the source told the agency.

The Israeli demand followed reports that Cyprus was in talks with Egypt to export gas from Aphrodite.

Ishai license holders warn on gas extraction from Aphrodite - GLOBES

13 Mar, 2018 10:32
Sonia Gorodeisky

Israel Opportunity chairman Rony Halman: Further development of the Aphrodite reservoir that ignores Israel's rights will represent a dangerous precedent.

The owners of the rights in the Ishai license, a continuation of the Cypriot Aphrodite gas reservoir on the Israeli side of the boundary between the two countries' economic zones, wrote to Petroleum Commissioner Yosi Wurzburger and to Minister of National Infrastructures, Energy and Water Resources Yuval Steinitz claiming that the extraction of gas on the Cypriot side would necessarily lead to the extraction of gas from Ishai as well. The approach to the ministry follows reports that Cyprus is in negotiations with Egypt on an agreement for the export of gas from Aphrodite. In addition, energy giant Shell is reported to be in talks in buying gas from the Aphrodite and Leviathan reservoirs.

Israelis claim Cyprus gas exploration tender unfair - GLOBES

10/10/2016, 15:46
Globes correspondent

Israeli investors in C.O. Cyprus Opportunity say it should have been awarded the license for Block 8 in Cypriot waters.

A group of Israeli investors, including the general partner of Israel Opportunity, is demanding that the Government of Cyprus should declare C.O. Cyprus Opportunity and the international Norwegian operator AGR winners of the tender for Block 8 in the country’s economic waters, and receive its holding. The application to the Cyprus government is being made under the 1998 investment protection treaty between Israel and Cyprus.

The general partner, who also holds C.O. Cyprus Opportunity, claims that the Government of Cyprus infringed on his rights as an Israeli investor protected under the treaty, by refusing to grant the Cypriot partnership the ownership of Block 8, while discriminating against it in bad faith and deceptively. Sources at Israel Opportunity, controlled by Rony Halman and Uri Aldubi, estimate the damage they have sustained in the billions of dollars, and say the conduct of the Government of Cyprus casts into doubt the economic viability of Israelis’ investments in Cyprus. At the next stage, they intend to seek international arbitration against the Government of Cyprus at the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes established at the initiative of the World Bank, operating out of Washington.

Israel, Cyprus in disagreement over Aphrodite gas field | Globes

Israel's claims the field extends into the area of the Yishai license are delaying a cooperation agreement between the two countries.

13/10/2015, 18:30
Amiram Barkat and Hedy Cohen

A disagreement between Israel and Cyprus over development of the Aphrodite gas reservoir is delaying the signing of a unitization agreement between the countries, designed to arrange the development of oil and natural gas reservoirs shared by the two countries and other cooperative energy efforts. Sources inform "Globes" that Minister of National Infrastructure, Energy, and Water Resources Yuval Steinitz, who was invited to Cyprus to discuss the promotion of joint projects for building a shared pipeline for exporting natural gas to Europe and laying an electrical cable between Israel and Cyprus, is delaying his trip until negotiations on the agreement, which have been taking place for over five years, are completed.

Actually, Israel is demanding a role in the approval of development of the Aphrodite reservoir, which it says is partly in its waters. For its part, the Cypriot government is willing to discuss the matter, but the Israeli demand is delaying the signing of an agreement.

The unitization agreement was slated for signing together with the marine areas border agreement in 2010, but the signing has been delayed by disputes over principles and various technical matters. A senior Israeli source involved in the negotiations told "Globes" that the demand for cooperation in development of the reservoir is based on international law and practice in similar drillings around the world. "We're asking for what we're entitled to, according to accepted practice," he said. Cypriot government spokesman Nikos Christodoulides told "Globes," "The Cypriot government is willing to discuss with Israel cooperation in the development of the Aphrodite reservoir, and wants to finish the talks about the unitization agreement as soon as possible."

The Cypriot reservoir, which was discovered in Bloc 12 in the Cypriot economic zone, also reaches over into the area of the Yishai license in the Israeli exclusive economic zone (EEZ). While Cypriot sources argue that only 3% of the reservoir is involved, sources close to the Yishai license holders say that the percentage is higher, and that the tests have not yet been completed. "Citing any number before the tests are completed and all the findings obtained is irresponsible," they say.

Noble Energy, which discovered the gas reservoirs in Israel, also discovered the Cypriot reservoir in a drilling conducted in late 2011. Nobel Energy's initial estimate was that the reservoir contained 5-8 trillion cubic feet (TCF). Following verification drilling, the results of which were published in October 2013, however, the quantity was revised to 3.6 TCF (for the sake of comparison, the Tamar reservoir contains 10 TCF and the Leviathan reservoir 20 TCF).

The owners of the rights in the Yishai license are companies controlled by billionaires Teddy Sagi and Benny Steinmetz and Israel Opportunity Energy Resources LP (TASE:ISOP.L). Steinmetz and Sagi financed an exploratory drilling in 2012 at a cost of $103 million in order to check whether Aphrodite extended into Israeli waters. The drilling discovered signs of gas, but these did not justify commercial drilling. Despite the failure of the exploratory efforts, the Ministry of National Infrastructure, Energy, and Water Resources approved the extension of Sagi and Steinmetz's license until February 2016, in other words, seven years after the license was received (the maximum period allowed by law). It appears that the extension of the license was designed, among other things, to support Israel's demand to be a partner in the approval of the development plans for the Cypriot reservoir.

During the negotiations, Israel argued that it was reserving the right to drill in the Israeli part of Aphrodite and take its relative share if it is not included in the development approval processes for the entire reservoir - even though it is clear that such drilling has no economic justification.

Is the failure to sign an agreement delaying the development of the reservoir? The Ministry of Foreign Affairs says it is. "Without an agreement between the countries and the companies, the investors won't agree to finance development of a reservoir at a cost of billions of shekels," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs says.

Michael Leigh, a senior advisor to the German Marshall Fund, a US entity, added, "An agreement will strengthen the ties between the two countries, and give the investors a signal that it is safe to invest." According to Leigh, who recently visited Israel and Cyprus to discuss the matter, "The attempt to reach an agreement between the parties has continued for several years, and neither side has made it a top priority." He commented that an agreement could be reached tomorrow "if each side is willing to negotiate a little with the other."

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on October 13, 2015

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2015

SOURCE

Israel makes new discovery off its coast | NATURAL GAS EUROPE

December 18th, 2014, 12:15am

Israel made another discovery off its coast. The newly discovered field, Royee, may hold up to 3.2 Tcf of natural gas according to a statement made by the Israeli partners in the field Ratio and Israel Opportunity who hold respectively 70%, and 10% stakes. The remaining 20% of the field are held by Edison. Royee is located about 150 kilometers offshore Israel close to its maritime borders with Cyprus and Egypt. The field’s size is yet to be confirmed, but current estimates suggest it is the third largest field discovered to date in Israeli waters after the Leviathan discovered by Noble Energy in 2010 and holding up to 22 Tcf of natural gas and the Tamar field discovered by Noble Energy in 2009 and holding up to 11 Tcf of natural gas. An exploration well is expected to begin in the year to come and will cost around USD 100 million.