Minister: 2 major gas companies keen on Israel-Cyprus plan for pipeline, gas processing facility - THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

May 16, 2023
MENELAOS HADJICOSTIS

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Two major international oil and gas companies have so far expressed interest in Israeli-Cypriot plans to build a pipeline that would convey offshore natural gas from both countries to Cyprus where it would be liquefied for export by ship, a Cypriot official said Tuesday.

Energy Minister Giorgos Papanastasiou told The Associated Press in an interview that the plan will be pitched on May 29 to energy companies involved in hydrocarbon exploration off Cyprus’ southern coast and other firms involved in pipeline and gas processing plant manufacture.

EXCLUSIVE Israel considering new pipeline to boost gas exports to Egypt - REUTERS

October 21, 2021 4:14 PM EEST

By Ron Bousso and Ari Rabinovitch

• Israel, Egypt holding talks on new onshore pipeline -ministry
• New pipeline expected to cost $200 mln -industry sources
• Pipeline will boost exports by 3 to 5 bcm/year -industry sources

LONDON, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Israel is considering the construction of a new onshore pipeline to Egypt in order to quickly boost natural gas exports to its neighbour in the wake of the recent tightening of global supplies, the Israeli energy ministry said.

The pipeline, which will connect the Israeli and Egyptian natural gas grids through the north of the Sinai peninsula, is estimated to cost around $200 million and could be operational within 24 months, industry sources who are close to the discussions told Reuters.

Greek-Italian venture signs agreement with Israel on Eastmed gas pipeline scheme - REUTERS

ATHENS, March 9 (Reuters) - Greek-Italian gas joint venture IGI Poseidon said on Tuesday it had signed an agreement with the Israel Natural Gas Lines Company to cooperate on building facilities to connect Israel to a planned gas pipeline in the eastern Mediterranean.

Greece, Cyprus and Israel last year signed a deal to build the Eastmed gas pipeline, which has been in the planning for several years and seeks to transport gas from offshore Israel and Cyprus to Greece and on to Italy to help Europe diversify its energy resources. IGI Poseidon, a joint venture between Greece’s state-owned gas utility DEPA and Italy’s Edison, said the agreement with the Israeli company, which updates a 2019 memorandum of understanding, aims to connect the Eastmed project to the Israeli transmission system and facilitate gas flows from the eastern Mediterranean to Italy and Europe, via Cyprus.

Israel is Diving Into the Troubled Eastern Mediterranean - BLOOMBERG

July 26, 2020, 8:00 AM GMT+3

Seth J. Frantzman

The Israeli cabinet last week approved a pipeline deal to move gas offshore via Cyprus to Greece and Europe. The 1,900-kilometer (1,181 miles) link will connect gas fields in the Eastern Mediterranean basin to European markets. The $6 billion project, many years in the discussion, was boosted in January by an agreement signed in Athens between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Greek and Cypriot counterparts.

The EastMed project puts Israel on a collision course with Turkey. Ankara has laid claim, reinforced with a maritime deal with Libya, to large parts of the Eastern Mediterranean, where it is exploring for gas—and conducting naval exercises. These moves are exacerbating tensions with Greece.

Israel Approves Natural Gas Pipeline Link to Europe - BLOOMBERG

July 19, 2020, 2:20 PM GMT+3Alisa Odenheimer

Israel’s cabinet approved a multinational accord to lay a pipeline that will facilitate the export to Europe of natural gas found in Israeli and Cypriot waters.

The $6 billion plan, formulated by the energy ministers of Israel, Cyprus, Greece and Italy, is for a 1,900-kilometer (1,181 miles) corridor that will link known and yet-to-be-discovered gas fields in the eastern Mediterranean basin with European markets through Cyprus, Greece and Italy. A survey of the route is currently being performed, with the aim of reaching a final investment decision within two years and completing the project by 2025.

The project has created friction with Turkey, which says it deprives Turkish Cypriots living in a breakaway state in northern Cyprus of proceeds from the island’s natural resources (Note: The north of Cyprus, always 100% or majority Christian, was 90% Christian before the Turkish invasion of 1974, now 100% Muslim also amid rampant colonization from mainland Turkey).

Greece's Corinth produces 62km of line pipes for Greece-Bulgaria gas link - SEENEWS

Feb 17, 2020 14:13 EEST
Mario Tanev

SOFIA (Bulgaria), February 17 (SeeNews) - Greece's Corinth Pipeworks has completed the production of the first 62 kilometres of line pipes for the Greece-Bulgaria gas interconnector project - ICGB, Bulgaria's energy ministry said.

Pipes have been loaded on six trains, three of which are already in Bulgaria, the ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

The first production lot is expected to be delivered in full in March, which will provide the gas link construction company with all necessary types and sizes of pipelines.

ICGB, the project company developing the gas link, signed contracts for the supply of pipes and construction of the interconnector with Corinth Pipeworks Industry and J&P-Avax, respectively, last year. The construction of the 123-km section of the interconnector on Bulgarian soil will begin in 2020, the energy ministry said at the time.

The pipeline, which has a total estimated cost of 220 million euro ($242.7 million), will connect the Greek gas transmission system in the area of Komotini to the Bulgarian gas transmission system in the area of Stara Zagora. The planned length of the pipeline is 182 km and the projected capacity will be up to 3 billion cu m per year in the direction from Greece to Bulgaria.

ICGB signs contract with owner's engineer for Greece-Bulgaria gas link - SEE NEWS

Jun 10, 2019 11:46 EEST
Mario Tanev

SOFIA (Bulgaria), June 10 (SeeNews) - ICGB, the company developing the Gas Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria project, said that it has signed a 5.67 million euro ($6.41 million) contract with the TIBEI consortium, which won the tender for selecting an owner's engineer for the project.

The contract was signed on May 20, according to a notice by the ICGB, published on Friday.

The TIBEI consortium comprises Belgium's Tractebel Engineering S.A, Italy's Tractebel Engineering SRL, Austria's Intber GmbH and Bulgarian companies Ipsilon Consult and Bulgaria Engineering.

"The commitment involves assisting the Contracting Entity in the implementation of the project during the construction phase until the pipeline enters into operation and management of all the main contracts related to the project - including the contract for the supply of line pipes and the contract for the award of design, procurement and construction," ICGB has said previously.

Pompeo and circumstance won't make EastMed pipeline a reality - THE JERUSALEM POST

MARCH 25, 2019 00:04 
GABRIEL MITCHELL 

The reduced presence of the US Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean coincided with increased maritime tensions across the region.

With the Purim holiday last week, many took a break from the country’s exhausting election cycle. But for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Wednesday evening was an opportunity to reinforce his position as Israel’s leading statesman. 

Hosting the sixth trilateral summit between Israel, Greece, and Cyprus, Netanyahu hoped special guest US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo would deliver a strong showing of support for the embattled premier and his regional energy aspirations.
Significant regional developments have transpired since the last summit. In January 2019, Cypriot, Egyptian, Greek, Israeli, Italian, Jordanian and Palestinian energy ministers met in Cairo with the intention of establishing the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum, an institution for regional energy cooperation. Coincidentally, the forum’s optimism was rewarded in recent weeks as major discoveries were made off the coasts of Cyprus and Egypt.

Exxon Mobil is reportedly considering future exploration in Israel’s waters.

Natural gas pipeline to Jerusalem completed - GLOBES

21 Mar, 2019 10:36
Daniel Schmil

The 18-inch-diameter, 34-kilometer-long pipeline cost NIS 290 million to build.

Israel Natural Gas Lines Company inaugurated the natural gas pipeline to Jerusalem in a ceremony attended by Minister of National Infrastructures, Energy, and Water Resources Yuval Steinitz and Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion. The 18-inch-diameter, 34-kilometer-long pipeline cost NIS 290 million to build.

The pipeline was built in two parts. The western part starts at the Yesodot block valve station near the Soreq Interchange on the Cross Israel Highway. The other part begins at the Mesilot Zion station next to Sha'ar Hagai and ends at the pressure-reducing station at Beit Zayit. The pressure reducing facility itself has not yet been completed, and gas can flow only to enterprises and consumers in the Jerusalem area after it is completed, through the Rotem distribution company. Connection of the first consumers to gas is scheduled for 2020.

Energy News Monitor | Volume XV; Issue 30 - OBSERVER RESEARCH FOUNDATION

JAN 05 2019

Israel, Greece and Cyprus will sign an agreement early next year to build a pipeline to carry natural gas from the eastern Mediterranean to Europe, while the United States pledged its support for the ambitious project. The $7 billion project, expected to take six or seven years to complete, promises to reshape the region as an energy provider and dent Russia's dominance over the European energy market. Israel has been developing natural gas fields off its Mediterranean coast for the past decade. Its "Tamar" field already is operational, while the larger "Leviathan" field is expected to be operational next year. While most of its gas is used domestically, it has signed export deals with Egypt and Jordan and has its eyes on the larger European market. The proposed pipeline would allow Israel and Cyprus to export their recently discovered offshore reserves to Italy and eventually to the rest of Europe. Greece, which would act as a conduit for the gas to the continent, could also use the pipeline to convey any hydrocarbons potentially found in its own waters.

The Mediterranean Pipeline Wars Are Heating Up - OILPRICE.COM

Dec 28, 2018, 9:30 AM CST

Viktor Katona

Things have been quite active in the Eastern Mediterranean lately, with Israel, Cyprus and Greece pushing forward for the realization of the EastMed pipeline, a new gas conduit destined to diversify Europe’s natural gas sources and find a long-term reliable market outlet for all the recent Mediterranean gas discoveries. The three sides have reached an agreement in late November (roughly a year after signing the MoU) to lay the pipeline, the estimated cost of which hovers around $7 billion (roughly the same as rival TurkStream’s construction cost). Yet behind the brave facade, it is still very early to talk about EastMed as a viable and profitable project as it faces an uphill battle with traditionally difficult Levantine geopolitics, as well as field geology.

The EastMed gas pipeline is expected to start some 170 kilometers off the southern coast of Cyprus and reach Otranto on the Puglian coast of Italy via the island of Crete and the Greek mainland. Since most of its subsea section is projected to be laid at depths of 3-3.5 kilometer, in case it is built it would become the deepest subsea gas pipeline, most probably the longest, too, with an estimated length of 1900km. The countries involved proceed from the premise that the pipeline’s throughput capacity would be 20 BCM per year (706 BCf), although previous estimates were within the 12-16 BCm per year interval. According to Yuval Steinitz, the Israeli Energy Minister, the stakeholders would need a year to iron out all the remaining administrative issues and 4-5 years to build the pipeline, meaning it could come onstream not before 2025.

EastMed gas pipeline must overcome major barriers - GLOBES

27 Nov, 2018 12:37

Gabriel Mitchell

Governments may be enthusiastic about the idea of an underwater pipeline linking Israel to Europe, but it is unclear how the financial and engineering challenges can be met.

Israel's Minister of National infrastructures Energy and Water Resources Yuval Steinitz has announced that the governments of Israel, Greece, Cyprus, and Italy have reached an agreement to build a pipeline that would transport Israeli natural gas to the European market. Diplomatic cooperation is a necessary component to realizing large-scale, multinational energy projects, but there is a point in every process where politicians need to step aside and make room for the entrepreneurs, corporations, and engineers who will determine the commercial and technical feasibility of this vision.

Israel, Cyprus, and Greece have demonstrated an enduring interest in collaborating on an ambitious undersea pipeline that would deliver Israeli and Cypriot gas to Europe. Since 2011, heads of state from these three East Mediterranean states have met on a regular basis and signed MOUs pledging future energy cooperation (in addition to other areas), if and when the climate is right. Italy's deepening participation in these dialogues only adds to the general sense of enthusiasm surrounding the appropriately named "EastMed pipeline".

Neither consensus between multiple governments nor the European Union's commitment of $100 million in a feasibility study - a number that sounds significant, but in comparison to the estimated $7 billion pipeline costs, is a drop in the ocean - promises that this vision will become reality. After all, the average Israeli family invests a larger percentage as a down payment for an apartment.

Israel, Cyprus, Greece and Italy agree on $7b. East Med gas pipeline to Europe - THE TIMES OF ISRAEL

24 November 2018, 10:03 pm

Greece, Italy, and Cyprus have reached an agreement with Israel to lay a pipeline connecting the Jewish state’s gas reserves to the three countries, in a major project estimated at costing over $7 billion that will supply gas from the eastern Mediterranean to Europe, as the continent seeks to diversify its energy supply.

According to Hadashot TV, the European Union agreed to invest $100 million in a feasibility study for the project before the agreement was reached over the laying of the longest and deepest underwater gas pipeline in the world.

As part of the agreement, Israel and Cyprus will be granted preference over other countries in exporting gas to the European market, according to the report.

The EastMed Pipeline Project is to start about 170 kilometers (105 miles) off Cyprus’s southern coast and stretch for 2,200 kilometers (1,350 miles) to reach Otranto, Italy, via Crete and the Greek mainland.

The pipeline will have the capacity to carry up to 20 billion cubic meters (706 billion cubic feet) of gas yearly. Europe’s gas import needs are projected to increase by 100 billion cubic meters (3.5 billion cubic feet) annually by 2030.

Work on the project is expected to begin within a few months, and to conclude within five years, Hadashot TV reported.

EastMed pipeline to be ready in 2025, if all goes well - IBNA

23 November 2018, 11:09

Nefeli Tzanetakou

According to the Israeli Foreign Ministry, final decisions on the EastMed pipeline will be made in 2019, once a study on the project’s commercial feasibility is complete, while Israel, Cyprus and Greece are expected to sign an intergovernmental agreement in the upcoming period.

If, according to the study, gas demand in Europe and energy market forecasts justify the need to complete the project, in this case the 2,000-kilometer underwater pipeline – worth an estimated 6.75 billion dollars – we be ready for operation in 2025.

The political feasibility of the project is undoubtable, as the East Med pipeline will connect – at all levels - the Eastern Mediterranean with Europe.

Greece builds pipeline to transport natural gas from Caspian Sea - AL JAZEERA

27 October 2018

John Psaropoulos 

Greece is known for its history and climate, but not for oil and gas.

That may be about to change with a new pipeline (a five billion-dollar project) being completed across the north of the country that will transport natural gas from the Caspian Sea to Western Europe.

It's part of a European Union policy to move away from dependence on Russian gas after shipments were stopped for two weeks during the 2009 Ukraine crisis, causing shortages in southeastern Europe.

Al Jazeera's John Psaropoulos reports (2:22 video).

Global Investment Firms Show Interest in Funding Cyprus Gas Pipe - BLOOMBERG

October 10, 2018, 10:27 AM GMT+3
Yaacov Benmeleh

• Four financial firms in contact with Cyprus govt on pipeline
• Pipe would transport Cyprus gas to Shell’s LNG plant in Egypt

Four major investment firms expressed interest in financing the construction of a pipeline that would transport natural gas from Cyprus to Egypt, according to a Cypriot official involved in the country’s energy sector.

The banks and investment houses asked the Cypriot government for more information on the progress of the Aphrodite reservoir, whose gas Royal Dutch Shell Plc is considering buying for its facility in Egypt, said Sofronis Papageorgiou, head of commercial affairs at the Cypriot embassy in Israel. He declined to disclose the names of the firms.

The Aphrodite field has sat undeveloped since its discovery in 2011, the first in Cypriot waters, but companies and regional governments are working to change that. Last month, Egypt and Cyprus signed an inter-governmental agreement to facilitate commercial deals, while the owners of the gas pool -- Shell, Texas-based Noble Energy Inc. and Israel’s Delek Drilling LP -- continue to hammer out a contract to service the liquefied natural gas plant in Egypt called Idku.

Risks Posed by Competing Claims to Eastern Mediterranean Oil and Gas Resources - WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

2018 JUNE-JULY
Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, June/July 2018, pp. 34-35

Special Report
By Jonathan Gorvett

WHEN ISRAELI PRIME Minister Binyamin Netanyahu spoke in Nicosia in May of “building a great alliance” between his nation, Cyprus and Greece, he was also quick to praise the “unrivaled network of common interests” that exists among the three states.

And if advocates of a giant new project have their way, that network may be about to get a lot more physically tangible.

For Netanyahu was in Nicosia to solidify support for the proposed EastMed Pipeline, a 1,350-mile natural gas connector that aims to bring Israeli and Cypriot gas to energy-hungry European markets. If ever constructed, the pipeline would form a specialized steel and concrete tie among the three nations, stretching far across the deep of the (sometimes unstable) Eastern Mediterranean floor.

Israel, Cyprus, Greece push East Med gas pipeline to Europe - ISRAEL HAYOM

Wednesday May 9, 2018

The leaders of Israel, Cyprus and Greece said Tuesday they are determined to push ahead with plans for a pipeline that would supply east Mediterranean gas to Europe as the continent seeks to diversify its supplies.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the East Med pipeline a "very serious endeavor" that was important for Europe, which is looking for new sources of energy.

Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades said the three countries aim to sign an agreement this year to nudge the pipeline project forward.

"This project creates a rivaled network of common interests and clear strategic benefit for our countries and beyond since its implementation will tangibly contribute to the security of the European Union's energy supply," Anastasiades said.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras called the project "emblematic" of the cooperation between the three countries.

The EU is looking favorably on the project, too, since the 28-member bloc has forked out €34.5 million ($41 million) to fund a technical study, the Cypriot president said.

Cyprus-Egypt gas pipeline to cost $800 mln-$1 bln - REUTERS

MAY 7, 2018 / 2:58 PM

Reporting by Ahmed Ismail; writing by Eric Knecht; editing by Jason Neely

CAIRO, May 7 (Reuters) - A pipeline connecting Cyprus’ Aphrodite gas field to Egypt’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities will cost between $800 million and $1 billion, Egyptian petroleum minister Tarek El Molla said on Monday.

Egypt has rapidly increased its production of natural gas and is hoping to become a hub for exporting to Europe after making a series of big discoveries in recent years.

Molla, speaking at a joint news conference with Cyprus energy minister Yiorgos Lakkotrypis, said Cypriot gas would be used in part for domestic consumption and in part for export.

Lakkotrypis said a final agreement on the pipeline would be signed as quickly as possible but did not specify when.

Egypt is hoping to halt gas imports by 2019 and achieve self-sufficiency.

ICGB to choose pipe supplier for Greece-Bulgaria gas link in June - SEE NEWS

Apr 19, 2018 13:11 CEST

Mario Tanev / Bulgaria's Ministry of Energy

SOFIA (Bulgaria), April 19 (SeeNews) - The supplier of pipes for the Gas Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (ICGB) project is expected to be selected in June, Bulgaria's energy ministry has said.

The shortlisted candidates will be announced by the end of April, the energy ministry said in a statement following a meeting of energy minister Temenuzhka Petkova with her Greek counterpart Giorgos Stathakis on Wednesday.