Cyprus: Lakkotrypis and Fannon welcome the launch of 3+1 Technical Committee works - IBNA

05/FEB/2020Spiros Sideris

The Minister of Energy, Commerce and Industry George Lakotroupis alongside the US Deputy Secretary of State for Energy Resources Francis R. Fannon welcomed the launch of the works of the first 3+1 Technical Committee (Cyprus, Greece Israel and the US) today, Wednesday February 5 2020 in Nicosia, to address the issue of “Emergency Preparedness and Response to Emergencies Related to Offshore Oil and Gas Activities”.

Speaking to the press, George Lakotroupis explained that the establishment of the Technical Committee had been agreed at the 3+1 Ministerial Meeting in Athens last August. “As I emphasized in my greeting statements, the cooperation of the three countries, plus the United States, is very important. Mind that it began in March 2019, at the 3+1 meeting at Jerusalem at the level of leaders between Cyprus, Greece and Israel, in the presence of the US Secretary of State; and it is precisely the model of cooperation everyone in the region must adopt, in order to be able to promote the common interests of our people”.

International oil companies begin submitting offers for Shell’s Egypt assets - ENTERPRISE

Awarded Concessions 2018 Licensing Round

Tuesday, 4 February 2020

M&A WATCH- IOCs bidding for Shell’s Egypt assets: Royal Dutch Shell has begun receiving offers from international companies for the upcoming sale of its onshore upstream assets in Egypt’s Western Desert, the local press reports, citing an unnamed industry source. The source did not say how many offers have been submitted so far, or which companies have expressed their interest in Shell’s Egypt portfolio. Shell is looking to close the sale, which could net as much as USD 1 bn for the company, by the end of the year.

Background: Shell had said back in October it is planning the divestment “in order to fully concentrate on growing its Egyptian offshore exploration and integrated gas business.” The company’s portfolio in the Western Desert includes stakes in 19 oil and gas assets including the Badr El Din and Obaiyed area, as well as the North East Abu El Gharadig, West Sitra, Bed 1 gas, and West Alam El Shawish concessions, according to the company website. Shell is not divesting from its offshore assets, downstream lubricants, or its share in Egyptian LNG.

Delek expects Leviathan expansion investment decision in 2020 - REUTERS

FEBRUARY 3, 2020 / 1:58 PM

Steven Scheer, Ari Rabinovitch

TEL AVIV, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Israel’s Delek Drilling expects a final investment decision this year on expanding exports from the Leviathan gas field using either an LNG facility in Egypt or a floating terminal, its CEO said on Monday.

The offshore Leviathan project came online a month ago and is already supplying Egypt and Jordan with natural gas. The project is led by partners Delek Drilling, a unit of Delek Group , and Texas-based Noble Energy.

Delek Drilling CEO Yossi Abu told a conference of investors that in order to further develop Leviathan, his company was in talks with banks about securing $2.5 billion in long-term funding, either through bank financing or bonds.

Is Egypt’s Energy Hub Dream Falling Apart? - OIL PRICE MAGAZINE

Feb 01, 2020, 12:00 PM CST

Cyril Widdershoven

Since the end of the 1990s Egypt has dreamt of becoming an East Mediterranean gas and energy hub.

The discoveries offshore in the Nile Delta at the end of the 20st Century, that kickstarted the LNG boom sparked hope, but regional and internal conflicts which led to the removal of president Husni Mubarak and the rule of the Muslim Brotherhood have significantly slowed down the country’s energy industry.

However, new discoveries made in the last couple of years, combined with strong results offshore Cyprus, Israel and possibly even the coming years in Lebanon have brought new hope. The so-called East Med Gas Forum, in which most littoral states are participating is seen as one of the main drivers of new energy developments. Led by Egypt-Israel and the Greece-Cyprus quartet, a new start was made to reshape the region’s energy market, with as crown jewel, Egypt’s LNG liquefaction capacity in Idku and Damietta. The combined reserves of the participants, especially Egypt’s elephant-sized fields Zohr and Noor, combined with Israel’s offshore wealth, could supply the European market. The EU and even the U.S. promote the so-called East Med Offshore Gas Pipeline project connecting the East Mediterranean with the Balkans and possibly Italy. The region is optimistic and strategies are being implemented at a remarkable speed. Even with Turkish military and political obstruction constraining or even threatening some of the projects, progress is made.

Energean Lining Up Zeus - RIGZONE

Thursday, January 30, 2020
Andreas Exarheas

Energean Oil & Gas revealed Wednesday that it expects to spud the Zeus exploration well in March.

Energean Oil & Gas revealed Wednesday that it expects to spud the Zeus exploration well offshore Israel in March.

The asset is targeting 0.6 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of gas initially in place (GIIP) according to Energean, which added that it is preparing to drill two additional exploration wells during 2020, “which will be contingent on the results from Zeus”.

Prospects being evaluated for drilling include Athena, which is said to hold 0.6 Tcf GIIP, Hera, which is said to hold 0.4 Tcf GIIP, and Poseidon, which is said to hold 1 Tcf GIIP.

Italy, Cyprus Say Turkey-Libya Maritime Deal 'Unacceptable' - THE NEW YORK TIMES / ASSOCIATED PRESS

Jan. 29, 2020

ROME — A maritime border agreement between Turkey and Libya's U.N.-backed government is “unacceptable," violates international law and flouts the sovereign rights of other countries, the foreign ministers of Italy and Cyprus said Wednesday..

Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio and his Cypriot counterpart Nikos Christodoulides said in a joint statement after talks in Rome that the deal cannot have any legal impact on other countries.

Turkey says the deal grants its economic rights to a large swath of the east Mediterranean sea and prevents any energy-related projects from moving forward without Ankara's consent.

One such project that Israel, Cyprus and Greece had agreed on earlier this month is an envisioned undersea pipeline (TEKMOR Note: East Med Pipeline) ferrying natural gas discovered in the east Mediterranean to European markets.

Egypt, ExxonMobil Ink Two Agreements Worth $332 MM - EGYPT OIL & GAS

Tuesday, 28th January 2020

The Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Tarek El Molla, signed two new exploration and production (E&P) agreements with ExxonMobil and the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS), according to a press release.

The two agreements are worth $332 million, with a signature bonus of around $17 million to drill seven wells.

The signature was conducted between El Molla; EGAS Chairman, Osama El Bakly; and the East Mediterranean Exploration Manager at ExxonMobile, Don Bagley, in the presence of other petroleum leaders.

Greece launches privatisation of gas supplier DEPA Commercial - KATHIMERINI / REUTERS

24.JAN.2020 : 08:30

Greece launched on Thursday the sale of a majority stake in state-controlled gas utility DEPA’s wholesale and retail business, its privatisation agency said.

The Greek government is selling a 65 percent stake in DEPA Commercial as part of the terms of the country’s final EU/IMF bailout.

Hellenic Petroleum, Greece’s biggest oil refiner holds the remaining 35 percent stake in the gas utility.

According to the tender document published by the privatisation agency, the preferred investor will also have the option to acquire Hellenic’s stake in DEPA Commercial.

The agency set a March 6 deadline for the submission of non-binding bids.

Deepwater Leviathan gas project secures Israel’s energy needs - OFFSHORE

Jan 22nd, 2020
Jeremy Beckman

Leviathan is Israel’s third offshore natural gas field development and the most ambitious to date for operator Noble Energy.

Leviathan is Israel’s third offshore natural gas field development and the most ambitious to date for operator Noble Energy. Discovered in 2010 by Noble and partners Delek Drilling and Ratio Oil Exploration, Leviathan, as its name suggests, is a deepwater giant. The field contains an estimated 35 tcf in-place and 22 tcf recoverable. The first phase of Leviathan development consists of four subsea production wells tied back to a shallow water production platform where gas will be processed to meet pipeline specifications. Its initial 1.2 bcf/d throughput will more than double the production capacity connected to the Israeli grid, meeting Israel’s growing domestic demand while enabling exports to neighboring countries and global gas markets. And the topsides installation completed last September, was the first commercial test of Sleipnir, the world’s newest and largest semisubmersible heavy lift crane vessel.

The field is situated 129 km (80 mi) west of Haifa in the gas-prolific Levantine basin - other nearby discoveries include the Noble-operated Tamar; its Aphrodite field offshore southeast Cyprus; and Eni’s Zohr off northeast Egypt. Transocean’s semisub Sedco Express drilled the Leviathan-1 discovery well in November 2010 in 1,645 m (5,397 ft) of water in what was then the Rachel license, finding gas in a similar geological/depositional setting to Tamar in various sub-salt Miocene intervals.

Libya: Tribesmen Say They Have Closed Shahara, el-Feel Oilfields - ASHARQ AL-AWSAT

Sunday, 19 January, 2020 - 15:00

A group representing southern Libyan tribesmen said on Sunday it had closed the southern El ShaRara and El Feel oilfields, virtually halting all of Libya’s oil output during a major international peace summit for Libya in Berlin.

The leader of the Fezzan Anger group, Bashir al-Sheikh said they had shut two fields, just two days after other fields in the east of the country were also shut.

El Sharara has production of abound 300,000 bpd and El Feel produces some 70,000 bpd.

A field engineer reached by telephone said a valve from the field had been closed.

The National Oil Corporation (NOC) has earlier warned that any shutdowns could have a lasting impact.

NOC Chairman Mustafa Sanalla said earlier on Friday: “The oil and gas sector is the lifeblood of the Libyan economy and the single source of income for the Libyan people ... They are not cards to be played to solve political matters.”

Taps and alliances in an era of hard pipeline diplomacy - KATHIMERINI

18.JAN.2020 : 14:02
Stavros Tzimas

Amid growing turmoil over energy issues in the Eastern Mediterranean, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan inaugurated the TurkStream pipeline in Istanbul earlier this month.

The operation of TurkStream, which will carry Russian natural gas to Central Europe through Turkey, will go some way toward fulfilling Moscow’s goal of reducing gas transit via Ukraine. With the pipeline starting in Novorossiysk, crossing the Black Sea and ending at Kiyikoy in northwestern Turkey, Russia achieves its aim of bypassing Ukraine – with which relations have long been troubled – while Turkey gets to reinforce its role as the controller of the pipeline taps that bring gas to the West.

The pipeline is seen supplying the Turkish market and branching out through Bulgaria and Serbia to send gas to Central Europe. That is why the leaders of the two Balkan countries, Boyko Borisov and Aleksandar Vucic respectively, were present at the event in Istanbul.

Greek gas utility DEPA says wins case over supply deal with Turkey's BOTAS - REUTERS

JANUARY 16, 2020 / 12:47 PM

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece’s state-controlled gas utility DEPA, earmarked for privatization this year, has won a legal case over a supply deal with Turkish state energy company BOTAS, DEPA said on Thursday.

The International Court of Arbitration (ICC) ruled on Wednesday that BOTAS should cut retrospectively the contractual gas prices that DEPA has paid, DEPA said in a statement.

The ruling is the last step in a 10-year legal battle between DEPA and BOTAS and its impact is being assessed by DEPA, it added.

A source with knowledge of the matter said new pricing would apply from 2011 to the present and that DEPA had paid BOTAS $181 million under a previous ruling of the arbitration court as part of the legal case which started in 2009.

BOTAS was not immediately available to comment.

Update on Lebanon 2nd Offshore Licensing Round - PGS

January 16, 2020

Lebanon’s Ministry of Energy and Water and the Lebanese Petroleum Administration have announced an extension of the application deadline.

Companies interested in participating in the licensing round are now invited to submit their applications for Blocks 1, 2, 5, 8 and 10 before the 30th April 2020.

Exploration Opportunity
Lebanon presents a tremendous opportunity, with frontier acreage already covered by modern 2D and 3D seismic data. The acreage comes with the reassurance of proven hydrocarbon plays and recent discoveries in the vicinity.

Factbox: Egypt's push to be east Mediterranean gas hub - REUTERS

JANUARY 15, 2020 / 3:20 PM / UPDATED 19 HOURS AGO


(Reuters) - Egypt began importing gas from Israel’s largest offshore gas field, Leviathan, on Wednesday, a step Cairo hopes will help it become a regional energy hub.

Rapid growth in Egypt’s natural gas supplies, boosted by the discovery of the Mediterranean’s largest field, turned it from a net importer to exporter in late 2018.
ISRAEL DEAL

Egypt’s Dolphinus Holdings signed deals with partners in Israeli gas fields to buy an estimated $19.5 billion of gas.

Partners in Israeli fields Leviathan and Tamar will supply Egypt with 85.3 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas over 15 years.

Texas-based Noble Energy, Israel’s Delek Drilling and Ratio Oil own Leviathan. Noble, Delek Drilling, Isramco and Tamar Petroleum are leading partners in the Tamar field.

It is unclear how much of the gas imported from Israel will be re-exported.

Tamar Petroleum slumps on delayed offering - GLOBES

12 Jan, 2020 13:03

Kobi Yeshayahou

Tamar Petroleum Ltd. (TASE: TMRP) has seen its share price fall sharply today after the company's board decided to postpone a secondary offering of NIS 140 million due to "market conditions." The company's share price is down 12% today and is down 50% over the past year.

Tamar Petroleum was founded by Delek Group Ltd. (TASE: DLEKG) and its energy exploration and production unit Delek Drilling LP (TASE: DEDR.L) in 2017 as a special vehicle to sell its holding in the Tamar offshore gas field after the government insisted Delek sell its stake in either the Tamar or Leviathan fields to prevent it gaining a monopolistic stranglehold on Israel's gas market. After offerings by Delek and Noble Energy Inc. (NYSE: NBL), Tamar Petroleum today holds a 16.75% stake in the Tamar field along with Isramco Ltd. (Nasdaq: ISRL; TASE: ISRA.L) (28.75%), Noble Energy (25%), Delek Drilling LP (TASE: DEDR.L) (22%), Alon Natural Gas Exploration Ltd. (TASE: ALGS) (4%), and Everest infrastructure Fund (3.5%).

Study points to significant gas field off Crete - KATHIMERINI

10 JAN 2020 : 12:50
CHRYSSA LIAGGOU

A large reserve of natural gas off the southern coast of the island of Crete bearing similar features to Egypt’s Zohr gas field and Israel’s Leviathan in the Eastern Mediterranean has been identified by Hellenic Hydrocarbon Resources Management (EDEY) after an analysis of seismic data from a sea area that also included the Ionian Sea.

In a statement, EDEY said that the company’s specialized scientists in the fields of geophysics and geology worked in environments that share common features with other gas fields in the Eastern Mediterranean, namely Zohr and Leviathan.

The area in question is adjacent to another area that has been conceded to the consortium of Hellenic Petroleum (HELPE), Total and ExxonMobil.

Israeli Gas Is Great – for Egypt and Jordan - HAARETZ

Jan 09, 2020 1:34 PM

Eran Azran

Leviathan gas reserve was billed a 'national project'. It's now online but 85% of the gas will go to Egypt, Jordan for a lower price than Israelis pay

The development of Israel’s massive Leviathan offshore gas reserve was presented to the public as a national project, but some 85% of the gas it contains is slated to be sold to Egypt and Jordan – for a lower price than the Israel Electric Corporation is currently paying.

The partners in Leviathan – Israel’s Delek Drilling and Ratio, and the U.S.-based Noble Energy, announced Monday that the extraction infrastructure was complete and that gas sales were set to begin.

The Leviathan reserve was discovered about a decade ago. Preparing the site for extraction cost some $3.6 billion and took nearly three years.

Participation of BULGARTRANSGAZ in the Alexandroupolis LNG project - GASTRADE

8 JANUARY 2020

The Council of Ministers of the Bulgarian Government approved the participation of BULGARTRANSGAZ EAD by a percentage of 20% in the share capital of GASTRADE S.A. The terms of the agreement were signed on 8th of January by the Founding Shareholder and Chairman of the Board of Directors of GASTRADE, Ms. Elmina Copelouzou and the Executive Director of BULGARTRANSGAZ, Mr. Vladimir Malinov, in the presence of the Minister of Energy of the Republic of Bulgaria, Ms. Temenuzhka Petkova.

GASTRADE is developing the LNG Terminal in Northern Greece off the shore of Alexandroupolis.

The Terminal comprises a floating LNG storage and regasification unit (FSRU) and a 28 km pipeline system. The LNG storage capacity of the FSRU will be up to 170,000 cubic metres and the maximum daily regasification capacity 22.7 million c.m. The FSRU will be moored 10 km offshore the city of Alexandroupolis and will be connected to the National Natural Gas Transmission System via a 28 km pipeline (24 km subsea pipeline and 4 km onshore pipeline).

The significance of Israel's natural-gas feat - ISRAEL HAYOM

JANUARY-07-2020 09:13

Alex Traiman

Exports will generate tens of billions of dollars in tax revenues for the government making it just one more successful venture led by the Jewish state’s longest-serving prime minister.
The start of natural-gas flow from the Leviathan rig is a momentous achievement for the State of Israel.

For the first time, a resource-poor country can become an energy superpower. The export of natural gas to immediate neighbors Jordan and Egypt – and later exported via Cyprus and Greece – strengthens Israel’s geopolitical status both in the Middle East as well as the West.

In addition to formal peace alliances and security cooperation, Jordan and Egypt are turning to Israel to provide for their energy needs. In the past, Egypt exported gas to Israel. Israel already supplies Jordan with water. The cooperation is likely to lead further towards normalized ties with other Sunni Gulf states.

Russia begins TurkStream gas flows to Greece - REUTERS

JANUARY 5, 2020 / 1:48 PM

SOFIA (Reuters) - Russia has started European gas deliveries through the new TurkStream pipeline to Turkey, Bulgaria’s Bulgartransgaz said on Sunday, as Moscow looks to reduce shipments via Ukraine.

Russia is building TurkStream and doubling the capacity of NordStream across the Baltic Sea to Germany as part of plans to bypass Ukraine in its gas deliveries to Europe.

“Russian gas deliveries not only for us but also for Greece and North Macedonia are being carried through the new entry point (at our Turkish border),” Bulgartransgaz CEO Vladimir Malinov told Bulgarian national radio BNR.

Russian gas producer Gazprom started shipping about 3 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas to Bulgaria via TurkStream on January 1, replacing a route that formerly passed through Ukraine and Romania.

Cyprus to work with Israel over exploitation of Aphrodite gas field - CYPRUS MAIL

January 4, 2020
Peter Michael

Cyprus will send a proposal for the exploitation of the Aphrodite natural gas field in the coming weeks to Israel, government spokesman Kyriacos Koushios said on Saturday.

Speaking on the sidelines of an event for a special needs schools in Alassa, Koushios commented on the signing of the EastMed pipeline agreement on Thursday, saying the government met with Israeli representatives and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the exploitation of the Aphrodite field.

“In the next two to three weeks, our side will send a proposal to the energy ministry of Israel, and we believe that there will be no problems for the exploitation of the Aphrodite field,” he said.

He added countries wishing to join in on the EastMed agreement are welcome, something the leaders who signed the agreement noted.

Signing ceremony in Athens of the East Med Pipeline Agreement - TWITTER / SAMMY REVEL

2 January 2020

Signing ceremony in #Athens today 2.1.2020 of the EastMed Pipeline Agreement.

An historical step forward in the #Israel-#Cyprus-#Greece Trilateral and our joint ambition to export natural gas to #Europe 🇮🇱🇨🇾🇬🇷 pic.twitter.com/tWDlNqeTDE

— Sammy Revel 🇮🇱 (@SammyRevel) January 2, 2020

Israel Could Be Key to 2020 Middle East Geopolitics - THE BEGIN-SADAT CENTER FOR STRATEGIC STUDIES

January 2, 2020
Frank Musmar
BESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 1,389, January 2, 2020

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Israel’s geographical position means it must stay agile and manage complex relations with its Muslim neighbors through quiet collaboration and smart use of its technological and economic advantages. Over the past two decades, Israel has discovered offshore gas, begun extensive seawater desalination, and dramatically expanded its navy’s platforms and missions. Ten years ago, Israel depended on Egypt’s natural gas; nowadays, Israel exports natural gas to Egypt and Jordan.

Britsh-Greek Company Energean to Join EastMed Pipeline - HAARETZ

Ora Coren
Jan 02, 2020 5:07 AM

The memorandum of understanding will be the first commercial agreement linked to the giant energy project

Energean, the British-Greek company that controls the Israeli Karish and Tanin natural gas fields, will sign a memorandum of understanding Thursday with the Public Gas Corporation of Greece in the first commercial agreement connected with the projected EastMed pipeline.

Greek media reported that the deal to provide Energean gas will be signed shortly before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Greek and Cypriot leaders sign an agreement in Athens on Thursday to develop the pipeline.

This will also be a show of force against Turkey, which has effectively agreed with Libya to divide much of the East Mediterranean.

Leviathan gas begins flowing to Jordan - GLOBES

Yuval Steinitz, Israel's energy minister

2 Jan, 2020 9:02

Jordan's National Electric Power Company (NEPCO) has said that the experimental supply of natural gas by US-based Noble Energy Inc. started as of yesterday. "The experimental pumping, which will last three months, is aimed at testing the infrastructure prior to the actual commercial supply," NEPCO added.

NEPCO continued, "The gas supply is in line with an agreement signed between the two companies in 2016. Under the agreement, Noble Energy will provide gas worth $15 billion dollars to the Kingdom for a period of 15 years, or 300 million cubic feet on a daily basis."

No mention in NEPCO's statement was made of either Israel or Leviathan because the agreement to buy Israeli gas is unpopular with many in Jordan. Last year Jordan's parliament scrap the deal.

Italy fully backs EastMed - KATHIMERINI

01.JAN.2020 : 15:26

On Thursday, Cyprus, Greece and Israel will sign, in Athens, an Intergovernmental Agreement on building the EastMed natural gas pipeline, and Italy's Minister for Economic Development Stefano Patuanelli, whose portfolio includes Energy, has sent a letter of support for the project to his Greek counterpart, Environment and Energy Minister Kostis Hatzidakis.

“I would like to express my warmest wishes for the success of the initiative, which Italy continues to support in the framework of the European Projects of Common Interest,” Patuanelli mentions in his letter.

The agreement will be signed by Hatzidakis and his counterparts from Cyprus, Giorgos Lakkotrypis, and Israel, Yuval Steinitz. Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and the Prime Ministers of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, will attend the signing ceremony.

Despite pollution fears, gas flow begins from behemoth Leviathan field - THE TIMES OF ISRAEL

The Environmental Protection Ministry said Monday that Noble Energy and its partners had met all the necessary conditions to begin pumping gas, paving the way for the rigs to begin extracting the estimated 22 trillion cubic feet of gas trapped underground.

Early Tuesday morning Noble began a gas rig test that is necessary ahead of starting operations, and later that morning the partners in Leviathan announced the start of natural gas production from the reservoir, the largest energy project in Israel’s history.

The first gas will reach Israel’s shores via the pipes within 24 to 48 hours from the start of production, the companies estimated.

Exxon Mobil secures large exploration position offshore Egypt - HOUSTON CHRONICLE

Dec. 30, 2019
Jordan Blum

Exxon Mobil said Monday it secured a large exploration position offshore of Egypt as the United States' largest energy player expands its role in developing oil and gas resources in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Exxon Mobil, which made a large natural gas discovery offshore of Cyprus 10 months ago, now plans to grow nearby in Egypt's territorial waters. Exxon also has discussed exploring offshore of Israel.

"These (acreage) awards strengthen our exploration portfolio in the Eastern Mediterranean," said Mike Cousins, Exxon's senior vice president of exploration and new ventures. "We look forward to working with the government and deploying our proven expertise and advanced technology."

Electrical equipment of Israel-Jordan gas line torched - THE JERUSALEM POST

DECEMBER 29, 2019 10:31
Tzvi Joffre

Two electrical transformers servicing a gas transfer station intended to transport gas from the Leviathan natural gas field in Israel into Jordan were torched by unidentified people in Irbid in northern Jordan on Saturday.

According to Sky News Arabia, this is not the first attack against the gas transfer station in Irbid. Gas flow through the station is expected to start in the next few days.

Jordanian citizens and politicians have expressed protest to the planned transfer of gas between the two nations.

On Sunday, Jordan's parliament filed an urgent memo, requesting that a law be drafted to ban the import of gas from Israel, according to Asharq Al-Awsat.

Dozens of activists held a protest in front of the parliament, calling for a cancellation of the gas trade deal.

Will Leviathan cut energy prices, increase competition? - GLOBES

23 Dec, 2019 19:30
Amiram Barkat and Yuval Azulai

Gas is about to begin flowing from the huge offshore Israeli gas field, on time and within budget. But will it benefit Israeli consumers?

The Leviathan natural gas field is set to begin streaming gas to the Israeli coast tomorrow, an event that the government and the reservoir's developers are calling historic. Almost six years since the Tamar field was connected, Leviathan will become the second major gas field connected to the Israeli coast. Nine years have passed since the discovery of the gas and the beginning of the supply, compared with only three years for the Tamar field.

Most of the gas that will begin flowing tomorrow is for exports to the Jordan Electric Power Company, and in another month also to private customers in Egypt. Commencing in another week, gas will also flow to the Israel Electric Corporation (IEC). The fact that residents near the coastal terminal will be exposed to potential health damage caused by gas, most of which is for export, is arousing criticism from residents in the Hadera region. However, the flow of gas to Jordan and Egypt has been portrayed by the Netanyahu government as an important geopolitical and political interest. In the name of this interest, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu bypassed the authority of the Israel Antitrust Authority director general at the time, and signed in his place, as Minister of the Economy and Industry (after Aryeh Deri, the previous minister, resigned) an exemption for an agreement in restraint of trade for Noble Energy and Delek Group, for the deal to buy the rights to area where the Leviathan reservoir is located.

Netanyahu's signature on the exemption was part of the general arrangement for the gas production sector, referred to as the gas plan. The plan aroused strong opposition at the time, involving the assertion that the state was perpetuating the monopoly of Delek Group and Noble Energy in the Israeli gas market, and forcing electricity consumers to continue paying the excessive gas price that IEC agreed to pay for the gas it was buying from the Tamar reservoir. Netanyahu stood firm against the protest with unqualified support for the plan devised by the professional staff in his government. In an extraordinary step, Netanyahu appeared before the Knesset Economic Committee and the Supreme Court justices to defend the gas plan. They were not impressed by his appearance, and struck down the all-encompassing stability clause in the original plan.

Completion of Leviathan's development is an appropriate time to assess what the gas plan achieved since it went into effect, and where it has failed.

American chambers of Greece, Cyprus, Israel hail Trump’s signing of EastMed Act - KATHIMERINI

FRIDAY DECEMBER 27, 2019 / 18:22

The American chambers of commerce in Greece, Cyprus and Israel have issued a joint statement hailing US President Donald Trump’s signing of the EastMed Act as a step toward promoting security and energy partnerships in the region.

“On the 20th of December, President Trump signed the EastMed Act to primarily promote security and energy partnerships in the Eastern Mediterranean. This Act, otherwise cited as the ‘Eastern Mediterranean Security and Energy Partnership Act of 2019,’ exhibits the historic metamorphosis in United States foreign policy in the Eastern Mediterranean, reflecting to a great extent the strategic view and principle that the security of partners and allies in the Eastern Mediterranean region is critical to the security of the United States and Europe,” the joint statement said.

“Through the Act, the United States commits to continue robust official strategic engagement with Israel, Greece and Cyprus and to actively participate in the trilateral dialogue on energy, maritime security, cybersecurity and protection of critical infrastructure conducted among the three countries,” the statement said.

3rd well of Baltim SouthWest field added on production in January - EGYPT TODAY

Tue, Dec. 24, 2019

CAIRO – 24 December 2019: "The third well of the Baltim southwest field is planned to be added on production in January," Sources in the petroleum sector told Egypt Today Tuesday.

The Ministry of Petroleum announced in November adding the exploration wells, Baltim southwest 1 and Baltim southwest 2, in the Nile Delta region on the production map at production rates of about 190 million cubic feet of gas per day and about 1,300 barrels condensate per day.

In September, Eni announced the success of starting up production from the offshore Baltim South West gas field in Egypt after being discovered in June 2016.

The field is located in shallow waters 12 kilometers off the Mediterranean coast of Egypt in the Baltim South development lease. It lies 10km from the Nooros field, but still within the Great Nooros area.

The project is executed by Petrobel, the operating company jointly held by Eni and the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) on behalf of Medgas.

Cyprus, Greece and Israel to Sign Pipeline Deal in Early January - HAARETZ

Dec 23, 2019 8:11 PM

The leaders of Cyprus, Greece and Israel plan to sign an agreement January 2 for building an undersea pipeline to bring Israeli and Cypriot natural gas to the European market, the Greek prime minister’s office announced Sunday.

The agreement, which will be signed in Athens by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Cypriot President Nikos Anastasiades and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, will be largely symbolic – aimed at helping Cyprus and Greece to confront Turkey over maritime rights.

The announcement of the pipeline agreement comes on the heels of an agreement signed last week between Turkey and Libya delineating exclusive economic zones in the Mediterranean Sea that awards Turkey the areas where the projected pipeline is slated to run.

The agreement has elicited protests from eastern Mediterranean countries with gas interests, including Egypt. On Monday, Netanyahu said in a letter to the Greek and Cypriot leaders that the “the gas agreement between Turkey and Libya is not legal – we need to respond and sign the gas pipeline agreement.”

Egypt to begin gas imports from Israel by mid-January 2020 - REUTERS

DECEMBER 22, 2019 / 12:46 PM

CAIRO/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Egypt will begin importing natural gas from Israel by mid-January 2020, Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz told Israel Radio on Sunday.

“(The exports) will begin in the middle of next month and perhaps even earlier,” he said.

Israeli gas exports to Egypt will gradually reach 7 billion cubic meters, a senior industry source, who earlier in the day disclosed a mid-January starting date, said on condition of anonymity.

Steinitz said Egyptian petroleum minister Tarek El Molla had spoken to him two days ago and congratulated him on signing export permits for the gas.

Egyptian company Dolphinus Holdings reached a landmark deal last year with the Israeli companies operating the Israeli fields Leviathan and Tamar.

Eni finishes gas production test of Zohr field’s last well - DAILY NEWS EGYPT

Sunday December 22, 2019
Mohamed Adel

The Italian company Eni has completed the production test of the 14th and last well in the Zohr gas field in the deep waters of the Mediterranean, bringing the total production capacity of the field to about 3.2bn cubic feet per day (scf/day).

A source in the petroleum sector told Daily News Egypt that the current production capacity of the field is about 3bn scf/day, and will increase to 3.2bn after completing the implementation of the gas pipeline linking the field to the national grid in April.

He said that production has been reduced from the rest of the wells until the 14th well is tested, which has a production rate of 150-250m scf/day because the local market currently does not need any additional quantities of natural gas.

Sen. Menendez Says East Med Act Ties U.S., Greece, Cyprus Closer - THE NATIONAL HERALD

December 21, 2019

WASHINGTON – With Turkey claiming seas around Cyprus and Greek islands, U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, lauded Congress’ approval of the Eastern Mediterranean Security and Energy Partnership Act he said has brought “a new day in Greek-American relations.”

He was a co-author of the measure and an ally of Greece and Cyprus during increasingly tense relations with Turkey, which is drilling for oil and gas off the island and wants to do the same off Greek islands.

Speaking to Greece’s state-run Athens-Macedonia News Agency (ANA-MPA) he said that, “I felt that we were in a moment in which the stars were aligned. I think there is a growing recognition of the importance of Greece and Cyprus along with Israel as a new strategy for the Eastern Mediterranean.

Energy firms try to end court order delaying Leviathan gas output - REUTERS

DECEMBER 18, 2019 / 12:12 PM

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Companies developing the huge natural gas field Leviathan will try to convince an Israeli court on Wednesday to remove an injunction that threatens to delay production due to environmental concerns.

On Tuesday, the Jerusalem District Court, in a surprise decision, issued a temporary order that barred any gas emissions from Leviathan, effectively putting the project, which was due to come on line this month, on hold.

It was unclear how long the delay would last. The companies, led by Texas-based Noble Energy and Israel’s Delek Drilling, have already signed major, multi-billion dollar export deals to Egypt and Jordan.

The hearing was moved up from the original date of Sunday.

Egypt Operational Update on Abu Sennan Concession - ROCKHOPPER EXPLORATION PLC

18 December 2019

Rockhopper Exploration plc (AIM: RKH), the oil and gas company with key interests in the North Falkland Basin and the Greater Mediterranean region, provides the following operational update in relation to the Abu Sennan concession, Egypt ("Abu Sennan"). Through Rockhopper Egypt Pty Limited, Rockhopper holds a 22% working interest in Abu Sennan.


ASH-2
The commitment well, ASH-2, was spudded on 21 October 2019, and reached total depth of 4,030m measured depth ("MD") in the Alam El Bueib Formation on 22 November 2019. The well was drilled as a vertical hole to appraise the Alam El Bueib reservoir to the WSW of the existing well ASH-1ST2, which currently produces 340 barrels of oil per day ("bopd"). Petrophysics indicate 50m of net oil pay in ASH-2. Modular formation Dynamic Tester ("MDT") pressure data indicates the reservoir is un-depleted, close to initial reservoir pressure. The well was completed, perforated and tested with the rig on site with encouraging results. The rig was released on 10 December 2019. The well will be tested at stabilised rates once the rig has moved off site.

Zohr continues to rise for Egypt - ENERGY VOICE

Tarek El-Molla visiting Zohr's onshore facilities 

16/DEC/2019, 9:09 am

Egypt’s Zohr field is producing at around 3 billion cubic feet (85 million cubic metres) per day, the country’s Ministry of Petroleum has said.

The production rate was disclosed during a visit to onshore facilities linked to the asset by Egyptian Minister of Petroleum Tarek El Molla, leading a parliamentary delegation. The statement from the ministry noted that Zohr, and other fields in the Mediterranean, had allowed Egypt to become once more self sufficient and return to exports.

El Molla had drawn attention to various stresses on the sector, including steadily increasing domestic demand and the need to develop infrastructure. Success had been driven by the ministry’s strategy, he continued, which had focused on drawing in more investment to the sector to bolster new reserves, while also supporting the development of discovered fields and domestic consumption in the use of gas, rather than oil products.

2020 ‘a year of gas drillings’ in Cyprus’ EEZ - IN-CYPRUS

December 15, 2019 at 11:44am
Edited by Bouli Hadjioannou

Nine gas drillings are planned in Cyprus’ EEZ in 2020 and early 2021, one more than the total number carried out over the period of January 2010 to December 2019 as Cyprus’ hydrocarbons exploration enters a period of maturity, Petros Theocharides writes for Phileleftheros on Sunday.

The agreement to develop the first gas reserve discovered, that of Aphrodite, shows that Cyprus has also entered the third stage – that of exploitation of hydrocarbons, the paper added.

So far there have been two gas drillings by Noble – Delek at the Aphrodite field in plot 12 – an exploratory one in 2011 and a confirmatory one in 2013 which showed that the quantities were lower than initially estimated.

Egypt’s petroleum consumption declines 8mln tonnes in four years - ZAWYA

13 DECEMBER, 2019

Cairo – Egypt’s domestic petroleum consumption has declined in four years, as a result of the implementation of reforms to the pricing structure of petroleum products, according to petroleum minister Tarek El Molla.

Domestic consumption was 31 million tonnes during the year 2018/2019, compared with 39 million tonnes in the year 2015/2016, El Molla said in a Thursday statement.

This came as a result of the state’s reform programme, which reduced petroleum imports to 12 million tonnes, from 16 million tonnes.

Over the past years, challenges lied mainly in the steady growth of domestic demand, higher value of subsidies, and the need to ramp infrastructure development spending.

The minister’s remarks came during a visit to Zohr field, accompanied by a parliamentary delegation, including energy and environment committee members and executives of petroleum companies.

Chinese-led consortium to build Cyprus’ gas import terminal - ASSOCIATED PRESS

13 December 2019

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Cyprus signed a deal on Friday with a Chinese-led consortium to build the east Mediterranean island nation’s first natural gas import terminal that officials said will help the country generate cleaner and cheaper energy.

Energy Minister Georgios Lakkotrypis said the 289 million-euro ($323 million) floating terminal will help reduce Cyprus’ carbon footprint from electricity generation by up to 30%.

The terminal is designed to convert imported liquefied gas back into gaseous form for use in Cyprus’ main power plant.

A consortium of China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering, Metron, Hudong-Zhongua Shipbuilding and Wilhelmsen Ship Management is expected to finish construction by early 2022.

The terminal that’s expected to be completed by early 2022 is to be built by a consortium of China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering, Metron, Hudong-Zhongua Shipbuilding and Wilhelmsen Ship Management.

Israel, Lebanon, and Failed Natural Gas Negotiations - FOREIGN POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE

December 11, 2019

Leah Pedro

Over the past decade, there has been a gas revolution in the Eastern Mediterranean, where discoveries of large offshore gas deposits have set up some of the littoral states—notably Israel, Egypt and perhaps Cyprus—as potential significant players in the European natural gas market. This has led to the creation of the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF), set up in Cairo this year, to facilitate cooperation among members—Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, Israel, Italy, Jordan, and Palestine, with U.S. support. Lebanon has been late to join in the gas market and has not yet been able to join the EMGF, and Turkey has been excluded for contentious bilateral relationships among members. While there seems to be a chance that further gas deposits are located in Lebanese waters, further exploration and exploitation cannot take place near the Israeli and Lebanese marine border until the contested area is demarcated. The potential profits from oil exploration in the disputed area could bring in as much as US$600 billion over the next several decades. Economic and political possibilities would seem attractive enough to incentivize both sides toward finding common ground. Yet, negotiations to delimit the maritime boundary, set to begin late summer 2019, never came to fruition, and do not seem likely to begin any time soon.

Dispute with Israel will not affect development of Aphrodite, minister says - CYPRUS MAIL

December 9, 2019

Evie Andreou

The outcome of talks between Cyprus and Israel over a dispute regarding the offshore border with Israel’s Yishai gas field will not affect development of the island’s Aphrodite gas field, Energy Minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis said on Monday.

“First, development of the Aphrodite reserve is going on as planned, and second, as regards the special agreement with Israel, there is a set procedure that is being followed for some time and will continue to be followed,” the minister said.

“But the most important thing I want to stress is that these two things, that is, the development of Aphrodite and the procedure for a special agreement, are not linked as far as the Cypriot side is concerned.”

Israel blocking Aphrodite gas field development - GLOBES

8 Dec, 2019 18:23
Amiram Barkat

Energy Ministry director general Udi Adiri has told Shell, Noble Energy and Delek Drilling they cannot develop the Cypriot reservoir until the border dispute with Israel's Yishai license is settled.

Israel is opposed to the development of Cyprus's Aphrodite offshore natural gas field until the dispute over the border with Israel's Yishai gas field is settled, Ministry of Energy director general Udi Adiri has made clear in a letter sent to the reservoir's rights owners Delek Drilling LP (TASE: DEDR.L), Noble Energy Inc. (NYSE: NBL) and Shell.

Adiri wrote to Delek Drilling CEO Yossi Abu, Noble Energy SVP Keith Elliot and Shell East Med GM Chris Breeze, "I wish to advise you that the State of Israel has not relinquished its share of the Aphrodite-Yishai natural gas reservoir, and has no intention of doing so."

Libya, Turkey demarcation MoUs hinder efforts to settle Libyan crisis, Shoukry says - ENTERPRISE

Sunday, 8 December 2019

Libya and Turkey’s recently-signed border demarcation agreements will hinder efforts to resolve the Libyan crisis and negatively affect the Berlin political process, Foreign Ministry at the Rome Med 2019 – Mediterranean Dialogue on Friday. Shoukry also highlighted the establishment of the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum, which does not include Turkey nor Libya, as a model for constructive cooperation among Mediterranean countries to serve the objectives of sustainable development. The agreements signed between Turkey and Libya could potentially infringe upon territorial waters claimed by Egypt, Cyprus, and Greece.

French FM backs Egypt: French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian separately called the agreements “illegal” under international law during a phone call with Shoukry, according to a ministry statement.

Turkish offshore gas deal with Libya upsets Mediterranean boundaries - WORLD OIL / BLOOMBERG

Turkey's claimed EEZ in darker blue; in brown the illegal agreement

6 DEC 2019

Selcan Hacaoglu, Firat Kozok

ANKARA (Bloomberg) - Turkey and Libya officially approved a contentious maritime deal that may fuel an energy showdown in the gas-rich waters of the eastern Mediterranean, where both countries are at odds with Greece.

The Nov. 27 preliminary agreement demarcates an 18.6-nautical mile (35-kilometer) line that will form the maritime boundary separating what will be the two countries’ respective exclusive economic zones. Libya’s presidential council and Turkey’s parliament approved the memorandum of understanding, Anadolu Agency said Friday. It is now expected to be filed with the United Nations.

“This agreement also amounts to a political message that Turkey can’t be sidelined in the eastern Mediterranean and nothing can be really achieved in the region without Turkey’s participation,” Cagatay Erciyes, a senior foreign ministry official in charge of maritime and aviation boundary affairs, said on Thursday.

Cyprus petitions The Hague to safeguard offshore rights - REUTERS

DECEMBER 5, 2019 / 10:50 AM

ATHENS (Reuters) - Cyprus has petitioned the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague to safeguard its offshore mineral rights, its president said on Thursday, upping the ante with neighbor Turkey which disputes its claims.

Cyprus’s internationally recognized government discovered offshore gas in 2011 but has been at loggerheads with Turkey over maritime zones around the island, where it has granted licenses to multinational companies for oil and gas research.

Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades said Cyprus is committed to protecting its sovereign rights with every legal means possible.

“Our recourse to The Hague has that very purpose,” he told journalists in Nicosia.

Deal to develop LNG infrastructure and supply in Cyprus reached - CYPRUS MAIL

December 3, 20196Jonathan Shkurko

An agreement to sign a contract on developing the necessary infrastructure and the supply of liquified natural gas (LNG) in Cyprus has been finalised.

The goal is to be able to use LNG in the market for electricity purposes by the end of 2021.

The deal follows lengthy negotiations between the Natural Gas Infrastructure Company (Etyfa), the Natural Gas Public Company (Defa) and the joint venture JV China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering Co Ltd and Metron SA, which will carry out the project.

The government gave the go-ahead to finalise the deal on November 22 during a meeting at the Presidential Palace in which President Anastasiades made it clear that Defa must go ahead with the procedures for the provision of natural gas in Cyprus.

The final process of examining and signing the complex agreement will take place this week.

Egypt condemns Libya-Turkey Mediterranean agreement - ENTERPRISE

Sunday, 1 December 2019

Egypt, Greece, Cyprus denounce Turkey-Libya agreement to redraw Mediterranean maritime boundaries: The Egyptian government has condemned as illegal the signing of two agreements on maritime boundaries in the Mediterranean and security cooperation between Turkey and Libya. 

The agreements — signed between Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Libyan PM Fayez Al Serraj in Istanbul on Wednesday — have “no legal effect” since the 2015 Skhirat peace agreement only grants the cabinet the power to sign legally-binding international agreements, Egypt said. The maritime boundaries agreed by Libya and Turkey remain unclear. Greece and Cyprus also denounced the agreement as illegal under international law, the Associated Press reports. The fallout comes amid heightened tensions over oil and gas drilling in the eastern Mediterranean.