Greece-Bulgaria Gas Interconnector Construction Should Start within 2-3 Months - NOVINITE

January 11, 2019, Friday // 15:15

The construction of the Greece-Bulgaria gas interconnector should start within 2-3 months, Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova told MPs in response to a question about gas supplies from Azerbaijan, Focus News Agencyreports. She said that building necessary infrastructure and concluding supply contracts were prerequisites for gas diversification. “In September Bulgargaz and Azerbaijani company Socar signed a contract for 1 billion cu m of gas. It is directly linked to two projects – the Southern Gas Corridor with the Greece-Bulgaria interconnector as an integral part. That 1 billion cu m is equal to 1/3 of our natural gas consumption. We can now talk about real diversification and a competitive environment,” Petkova said. She expects the procurement procedures for pipe supplier, engineering consultant and builder for the interconnector to be completed within a few days. The project is scheduled for completion in 2020.

Turkey declares oil refinery as special industrial zone - YENI SAFAK / ANADOLU AGENCY

October 20, 2018  11:14 

A presidential decree has declared a newly-opened oil refinery in western Izmir province as the first special industrial zone in Turkey, the Industry and Technology Ministry said Saturday.

Industry and Technology Minister Mustafa Varank said in a statement that the oil refinery will reduce Turkey's foreign trade deficit annually by $1.5 billion.

"The STAR refinery is the biggest real sector investment made at a time in Turkey," he said.

He stressed on the importance of petrochemical investments in terms of high value-added production, employment opportunities and balance of payments.

Socar, Qatari firm proposals for Crete energy sufficiency issue - ENERGY PRESS

17/SEPT/2018

LNG usage and the establishment of a floating regasification terminal for gas-fueled electricity generation at power stations are the common factors of at least two proposals to be presented this week to RAE, the Regulatory Authority for Energy, as possible solutions for the Crete’s looming energy shortage problem as of 2020.

An exemption to EU law concerning power station emission limits for local high-polluting units, such as those operating on Crete, is set to expire in December, 2019.

An Athens-Crete interconnection plan that would resolve resulting power insufficiency issues on the island has fallen behind schedule and prompted the need for solutions until the project’s launch.

Bulgaria-Greece Gas Pipeline Project Receives Initial Bids - NOVINITE / REUTERS

September 13, 2018, Thursday // 09:53

Reporting by Tsvetelia Tsolova; Editing by Edmund Blair

Italy’s Saipem, a consortium including Azeri state firm SOCAR and nine other groups or firms have submitted initial bids to build a gas pipeline between Bulgaria and Greece, the company overseeing delivery of the project said.

ICGB launched a tender in April for design, procurement and construction of the 182-km (113-mile) pipeline that is estimated to cost 145 million euros (8 million). The contract winner will have 18 months to complete the project.

Other firms which have filed initial bids also include Italy’s Sicim, Greek company J&P Avax, Turkey’s Fernas, a group including Sicilsaldo, Nuova Ghizzoni and Inrakat, and a consortium of Germany’s Max Streicher and Greece’s Terna.

ICGB will draw up a shortlist of final bidders.

Sofia plans to use the pipeline to receive one billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas per year from Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz 2 gas field after 2020, ending its almost complete reliance on Russian gas supplies.

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.

Giant gas pipeline boost for Turkey amid turmoil - ARAB NEWS

April 27, 201813:10
Richard Wachman

• Turkey’s aim to become regional energy hub not yet achieved
• Ankara to collect transit fees, tariffs and taxes

It has been a decade in the making: The $40 billion Southern Gas Corridor (SGC), arguably the gas industry’s most significant and ambitious undertaking yet, involving seven governments and 11 companies.

The 3,500 kilometers pipeline corridor is one of the biggest infrastructure projects in the global oil and gas industry, bringing Caspian gas through three linked networks across Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, Greece and the Adriatic Sea to southern Italy where it can be conveyed to European markets.

SGC has been pushed by the EU since 2008 as a strategic imperative to reduce the bloc’s dependence on Russian gas, and has been bankrolled by EU and international funding, including loans from the Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank, which counts Saudi Arabia and UAE as members.

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.

SOCAR to keep on diversifying its business portfolio in Turkey - MENAFN / AZER NEWS

2/12/2018 3:34:09 AM
Kamila Aliyeva

Azerbaijan's state oil company SOCAR will continue to diversify its business portfolio and make new investments in Turkey in the future, the company told Trend and Azernews.

SOCAR has invested in several countries, as well as in Turkey during the last decade in order to optimize its revenues and create added value for Azerbaijan's economy, the company noted.

"The modernization and reconstruction of Petkim Petrochemical Complex and the construction of Petlim container port have already been completed successfully and we are happy to announce that two of our strategically important projects in Turkey, namely the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) and Star Oil Refinery will be commissioned this year," SOCAR said.

All of these projects are a part of SOCAR's vertical integration strategy, according to the company.

Southern Gas Corridor to Start Pumping Natural Gas in Mid-2018 - CASPIAN NEWS

February 2, 2018

Mushvig Mehdiyev

The Southern Gas Corridor mega-pipeline that will deliver Caspian gas to Europe and Turkey, may come online early and be operational by the middle of this year.

On Thursday, BP’s regional president for Azerbaijan, Turkey and Georgia, Gary Jones, said the development of the second phase of Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz gas field – currently the only supplier for the corridor – and the expansion of the South Caucasus pipeline – one of three segments within it – are almost complete.

SOCAR: Azerbaijan has large gas reserves to supply pipelines - APA

23.12.2017

The Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) project requires $44-45 billion. $25 billion has been spent so far, Khoshbakht Yusifzade, first vice-president of Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR, said Dec. 23.

He made the remarks at a conference titled “At the intersection of East and West: New energy and communication opportunities", organized by the ruling New Azerbaijan Party (YAP) in Baku, APA-Economics reported.

According to Yusifzade, most of these works have already been carried out.

“The TANAP project will be ready in 2018, the TAP project in 2019. Azerbaijan will supply gas to Europe through these pipelines. Azerbaijani President confirms that Azerbaijan has gas large reserves. The country's proven gas reserves are equal to 2.6 trillion cubic meters. Together with unconfirmed volumes, it is 6 trillion cubic meters. Russia and Iran can also join these pipelines in future,” he noted.

Touching upon the Shahdeniz field, Yusifzade said that there are 200 billion cubic meters of gas and 240 million tons of condensate in the Shahdeniz reserves which are sufficient to fill the pipelines.

EBRD grants $500M in financing to TANAP - KALLANISH ENERGY

October 19, 2017

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) approved Wednesday a $500 million loan to help finance construction of the $8.6 billion Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP), Kallanish Energy reports.

The project will deliver “crucial energy supplies from the Caspian Sea through to Europe along the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC), and make an important contribution to the energy security and diversification (in Europe),” the EBRD said.

The 1,850-kilometer (1,150-mile) line accounts for over half of the 3,500 km (2,174-mile) SGC pipeline system, and will transport 16 billion cubic meters per year (Bcm/y – 564.8 billion cubic feet, Bcf/y) by 2020.

Turkey will consume 6 Bcm/y (211.8 Bcf) and the remaining 10 Bcm/y (353 Bcf/y) have already been contracted by several European gas traders, mostly in the Italian market.

Some $1.4 billion of financing loans were granted last year for TANAP — $800 million from the World Bank and $600 million from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). The European Investment Bank (EIB) is considering to finance $2 billion of the project, but its final decision is due next month.

EBRD to provide $500M for TANAP -DAILY SABAH - ANADOLU AGENCY

ANKARA, August 4, 2017

On Oct. 18, the board of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) should approve a $500 million financing package for Azerbaijan's Southern Gas Corridor Inc. to be used for the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) project, the largest part of the Southern Gas Corridor.

An EBRD statement pointed out that the World Bank approved $800 million in financing and the Asian Development Bank approved $600 million in financing for TANAP, which will cost $8.6 billion.

Also, the statement indicates the European Investment Bank is considering providing financing for TANAP, emphasizing that the project is important for Turkey and Europe in terms of energy security and resource diversity.

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.

Greece expects minimum $456 mln offers in gas grid sale - newspaper - REUTERS

Mon Jul 10, 2017 | 7:28am EDT

Greece expects potential investors will offer at least 400 million euros ($456 million) for a majority stake in its gas grid operator DESFA, Energy Minister George Stathakis said in an interview with Naftemporiki newspaper.

Greece, under pressure by EU lenders to conclude the sale as it has earmarked about 180 million euros of the proceeds in this year's budget, relaunched the tender in June after a 400 million euro deal with Azerbaijan state oil company SOCAR fell through over gas tariffs among other issues.

Azerbaijan's H1 2017 oil exports via Turkey pipeline fall 12% yr/yr - HYDROCARBON PROCESSING / REUTERS

JULY/5/2017
Reporting by Nailia Bagirova; writing by Margarita Antidze; editing by Jason Neely

BAKU (Reuters) — Azeri oil exports through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline via Georgia and Turkey fell 11.8% year on year in the first half of 2017 to 13.174 MMt from 14.930 MMt in the same period last year, state energy company SOCAR said on Wednesday.

Oil exports through the BTC in 2016 totaled 28.86 MMt, up 1.3%.

Azerbaijan exports oil via the pipeline from the Azeri, Chirag and Guneshli (ACG) oil fields operated by BP.

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.