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.

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.

Rosneft Closes the Deal to Acquire a 30% Stake in Zohr Gas Field - ROSNEFT

09 October

Rosneft closed the deal to acquire a 30% stake in the concessions agreement for the development of Zohr field, the largest gas field in the Mediterranean Sea, from Italian company Eni S.p.A.

The cost of Rosneft stake acquisition is USD 1.125 bln. The Company also refunded its share in past project costs to Eni.

The Company becomes a participant of the project to develop the largest deepwater gas field offshore Egypt jointly with other world majors and strategic partners of Rosneft – Eni (60% stake) and BP (10% stake).

MENA countries need to get more creative when exploring for oil - THE NATIONAL

March 5, 2017 01:55 PM

Robin Mills

By August 2015, Eni seemed out of luck in the eastern Mediterranean. Two wells drilled off the shore of Cyprus had been failures. Several other companies looked at data on its deepwater block north of Egypt, where Shell had sunk 10 wells in previous years without any real success, but decided against taking a share. There was a promising deeper structure with untested geology, but the Italian company would have to go it alone.

Eni drilled in almost a kilometre-and-a-half of water, then through more than 4,000 metres of sand, shales and salt. During the Miocene period 6 million years ago, the entire Mediterranean dried up, leaving a thick layer of salt – ideal for trapping any oil or gas that formed below it.

Eni’s offshore drilling gamble looks set to pay off - FINANCIAL TIMES

28.02.2017
Andrew Ward

Position of energy group’s chief is mired in uncertainty because of corruption probeEni chief denies wrongdoing in corruption case

Over a lunch of locally caught Mediterranean seafood, Claudio Descalzi delivers a pep talk to managers around a large dining table in the offices of a petroleum plant near Port Said, Egypt.

“We need to do more, more, more every day,” says the chief executive of Eni, the Italian oil and gas group.

Video: EGYPS coverage, interview with BP's CEO, Bob Dudley - DMC TV CHANNEL / EGYPS

Osama Kamal interviews Bob Dudley - CEO of BP (approx. 12 minutes, @1:07:14) at the recent (14-16 Ferbruary 2017) Egypt Petroleum Show EGYPS 2017. Among other things he explains the reasoning behind a farm-out agreement after a find has already been made, OPEC's balancing act with the advent of shale gas and his great optimism on Egypt. BP's 2016-2017 investments were the largest in Egypt than in any other part of the world (BP operates in over 40 countries). 

Video: EGYPS coverage, interview with CEO of ENI - DMC TV CHANNEL / EGYPS

Osama Kamal interviews Claudio Descalzi (approx. 9 minutes, @57:50), CEO of ENI at the recent (14-16 Ferbruary 2017) Egypt Petroleum Show EGYPS 2017. Among other interesting things Descalzi says he expects the Zohr farm-out deal with Rosneft to be finalised by end of March 2017. Both BP (10%, signed) and Rosneft (30%) have an option by end of 2017 to increase their share in Zohr's Shoruk block by an additional 5%, which would leave Shorouk's owners as follows: 50% ENI, Rosneft 40%, BP 10%. 

Israel - Turkey pipeline hangs on Cyprus peace talks - JERUSALEM POST

Espen Barth Eide, Special Adviser of the UN Secretary-General on
Cyprus, on the start of the Cyprus talks at the Palais des Nations

11 JANUARY 2017 22:07
Michael Tanchum

The greatest beneficiary of a failure in Geneva would be Russia and its efforts to further expand its widening strategic footprint in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Israel hopes to market its natural gas to Turkey, and via Turkey to the EU, but this aim may hang on the outcome of the potentially historic Cypriot peace negotiations currently underway in Geneva. Since an undersea gas pipeline from Israel’s Leviathan natural gas field to Turkey requires crossing Cyprus’s economic exclusion zone, failure to reach an agreement could force Israel to return to an older plan of marketing its natural gas via Egypt. However, in the new energy and geopolitical realities of the region that emerged in 2016, Israel’s selection of Egypt as its major export option could result in the Russia’s rise as a central player in Eastern Mediterranean energy.

ENI chief meets Al-Sisi as tensions ease - NATURAL GAS WORLD

Rosneft and BP have an add'l 5% option each on Shorouk

January 05th, 20179:15am

Mark Smedley

Eni said late January 4 that its CEO Claudio Descalzi met the president of Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, earlier that day in Cairo.

Descalzi reviewed the ongoing development of the giant Zohr gasfield with the president, noting that the ultra-fast track project is progressing as expected, still with “production start-up confirmed by end of 2017.” The Eni CEO also said that the Nooros field will produce some 25mn m³/d (882mn ft³/d, or 172,000 barrels of oil equivalent/day) by the end of this month, just 15 months after start-up.

Eni agreed late 2016 to farm out potentially up to 50% of Zohr to Rosneft and BP. Each has an option for another 5% on top of their 30% and 10% holdings respectively.

Eni agrees to export part of Shorouk concession - DAILY NEWS EGYPT

17.12.2016
Mohamed Adel

Arbitration case worth $8bn will be waived as soon as exporting begins

The Italian gas company Eni has agreed with the Egyptian government to export part of the gas produced from Zohr field in the Shorouk concession in the Mediterranean to international markets through the Damietta liquefaction plant. Eni owned 25% of the liquefaction plant, before having bought 50% of Unión Fenosa, boosting its stake in the plant to 50%.

Government sources told Daily News Egypt that Eni will establish a land pipeline from the Zohr treatment plant to the Damietta liquefaction plant.

Sources explained that the company sold 40% of its shares to British Petroleum (BP) and the Russian Rosneft, to participate in securing investment for the project, which is estimated at $12bn, up to $16bn by 2020.

Rosneft To Acquire A Share in the Biggest Gas Field in the Mediterranean Sea - POLYMER UPDATE

15-Dec-2016

Within his working visit to Cairo Rosneft Chief executive officer Igor Sechin was hosted by the President of Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Igor Sechin passed along to the Egyptian leader the message from the President of the Russia Vladimir Putin. Sechin and el-Sisi discussed the cooperation between Rosneft and its Egyptian partners and the implementation of joint energy related projects.

The Head of Rosneft informed the President of Egypt about the reached agreement for the Rosneft acquisition of up to 35% in the concession agreement for the development of the Zohr gas field and of a 15% share in the project’s operator the parity joint venture between Eni and EGAS Petroshoruk.

Rosneft’s Board of directors approved the Company’s joining the project. The price of the stake to be purchased is USD 1.125 bln. Moreover Rosneft will reimburse Eni USD 450 mln as its 2016 historical expenses. Overall Rosneft investments in the project will amount USD 4.5 bln in a timeframe of 4 years. Rosneft joins the development of the biggest Egyptian hydrocarbon field together with world majors its long standing partners Eni and BP.

Eni sells a 30% stake in the Shorouk concession, offshore Egypt, to Rosneft - ENI

12/12/2016 08:05

ENI PRESS RELEASE, PRICE SENSITIVE

The agreed conditions include a consideration of 1,125 million US dollars and the pro quota reimbursement of past expenditures, which amount so far at approximately 450 million US dollars. In addition, Rosneft has an option to buy a further 5% stake under the same terms.

San Donato Milanese (Milan), 12 December 2016 – Eni has agreed to sell to Rosneft a 30% participating interest in the Shourouk Concession, offshore Egypt, where the supergiant gas field Zohr is located. Eni, through its subsidiary IEOC, currently holds a 90% stake in the block following the recent dilution of 10% to BP which completion is ongoing.

The agreed conditions include a consideration of 1,125 million US dollars and the pro quota reimbursement of past expenditures, which amount so far at approximately 450 million US dollars. In addition, Rosneft has an option to buy a further 5% stake under the same terms.

Eni sells 30 percent stake in Egypt's Zohr gas field to Rosneft - REUTERS

Mon Dec 12, 2016 | 9:39am EST

By Stephen Jewkes and Valentina Za | MILAN
Additional reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin in MOSCOW; Editing by Mark Potter and Michael Urquhart

Italian energy company Eni will sell a 30 percent stake in its giant Egyptian offshore gas field Zohr to Russia's Rosneft for $1.575 billion, pressing ahead with asset sales to fund investments and offset weak oil prices.

Eni, which owns 90 percent of the Shorouk concession containing Zohr, said Rosneft would pay $1.125 billion cash for the stake and would reimburse investments already carried out by Eni for around $450 million.

The deal comes less than a month after Eni's sale of a 10 percent stake in Zohr to BP at the same implied price, bringing overall proceeds to around $2.1 billion.

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. 

Rosneft mulls buying up to 35% of Shorouk concession - ENTERPRISE

Tuesday, 6 December 2016

The board of Russia’s Rosneft will meet tomorrow (7 December) to discuss the potential acquisition of up to 35% of the Shorouk offshore concession from Eni, AMAY reported. Eni had sold a 10% interest of the concession, which contains Zohr natural gas field, to BP in November and plans to lower its stake in the field to 50%.

BP Enters Zohr "Super Giant" Gas Field as Eni Cuts Stake - FORBES

CEOs Claudio Descalzi (ENI); Emilio Lozoya (Pemex); Bob Dudley (BP),
Amin H. Nasser (Saudi Aramco), Patrick Pouyanne (Total) 

NOV 29, 2016 @ 07:42 PM 
Christopher Coats

After leading the discovery of the Zohr field, Italy’s Eni has signaled its intention to reduce its stake in the field to about 50%, starting with the sale of a 10% stake to BP for $375 million.

Billed as the largest natural gas discovery in the Mediterranean in the last decade, the Zohr offshore field near Egypt has attracted intense interest from companies hoping to make the most out of the region’s new-found energy potential. According to earlier reports, the “super giant” field could be home to an estimated 30 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

However, Eni appears ready to reduce its exposure to the effort, telling media outlets that it feels it can manage the project with a smaller stake.