EMC 2021 . 2021 SEPT 14-16 . NICOSIA
Fri Aug 12, 2016 10:07am EDT
By Stephen Jewkes and Oleg Vukmanovic | MILAN
Aug 12 Italy's Eni is talking to oil companies including Lukoil, ExxonMobil, Total and BP about selling at least a 20 percent stake in its giant gas field in Egypt, industry sources said.
Eni owns the whole of Zohr and has said it is interested in bringing in partners as part of its strategy of selling some of its prize acreage to help meet a target of raising 5 billion euros from asset disposal over the next two years.
Analyst have said a 25 percent stake in the Zohr field, the Mediterranean's biggest, could fetch up to 2 billion euros ($2.24 billion).
Chief Executive Claudio Descalzi has said any deal on Zohr would have to wait until next year when final appraisals are complete and production kicks in.
"It may be early days but Eni has started talking," said one banker familiar with the Italian group.
Eni, Total and Exxon did not comment, while BP said it did not comment on rumour and speculation. Lukoil declined immediate comment.
Thu Aug 11, 2016 7:11am EDT
Switzerland's highest court has ordered Israel to pay Iran around $1.1 billion plus interest in a decades-old dispute over a secretive oil pipeline company predating the 1979 Islamic revolution which made the countries enemies.
The Swiss Federal Tribunal rejected an appeal, citing lack of due process, against an arbitration ruling last year. The verdict, dated June 27, was available on the Lausanne court's website.
It also awarded Iran 450,000 Swiss francs ($461,302) in court costs and lawyer fees.
It remains unclear whether Israel will pay up given restrictions its "trading with the enemy" laws.
Wed Aug 10, 2016 1:51pm GMT
CAIRO Aug 10 (Reuters) - Egypt's government has approved five oil and gas drilling and exploration agreements with foreign companies, Petroleum Minister Tarek El Molla said on Wednesday.
Once an energy exporter, Egypt has turned into a net importer because of declining oil and gas production and increasing consumption. It is trying to speed up production at recent discoveries to fill its energy gap as soon as possible.
Four of the deals are offshore Mediterranean gas exploration and drilling agreements between Egypt's state gas board EGAS and BP, Eni, Total, and Edison.
The fifth deal, which is an oil drilling deal in the Gulf of Suez, is between state petroleum board EGPC and local company Trident Petroleum.
Aug 10 - 10:52 pm
Today, Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has offered to connect the Turkish Stream pipeline to the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP), via which Azerbaijani gas will be delivered to Europe.
According to him, Ankara will buy only 16 billion cubic meters of Russian gas per year via the Turkish Stream. The remaining volume of Russian gas can be exported through Turkey via TANAP by connecting it to the Turkish Stream.
Vestnik Kavkaza asked the director of the Baku Oil Research Center Caspian Barrel, Ilham Shaban, whether this project is realistic and what benefits can it bring to the parties.
Tuesday August 9, 2016
Sarah El-Sheikh
Developing cooperation in energy discoveries and natural gas extraction fields were at the forefront of the officials’ discussions
Prime Minister Sherif Ismail met with Cypriot minister of foreign affairs loannis Kasoulidis early on Tuesday in the presence of Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry and Cyprus’ ambassador in Egypt to discuss bilateral relations, according to a statement from the prime minister’s spokesperson Hossam Qawesh.
During the meeting, Ismail pointed out the depth of Egyptian-Cypriot relations, confirming that recently these have developed significantly through enhancements in joint cooperation between both countries.
09/08/2016, 19:36
Globes correspondent
After a four year hiatus, the Petroleum Council recommends inviting bids for 24 blocks.
The Petroleum Council that reports to the Ministry of National Infrastructures, Energy and Water Resources has approved the granting of new exploration areas in Israel's economic waters. The Council's made its recommendation after four years in which the sea was closed to new exploration, and following Minister of National Infrastructures, Energy and Water Resources Yuval Steinitz's instruction that exploration should be renewed.
The Council recommends the minister to offer 24 blocks initially, in an international bidding process, in which energy companies will be called on to bid in an auction and participate in exploration for oil and natural gas in Israel's economic waters.
The Council selected 24 potential blocks, each up to 400 square kilometers in area. Some of the blocks are close to the large gas discoveries in water depths of 1.5-1.8 kilometers.
08/08/2016 4:00 am
Libya has started maintenance work at Es Sider port, the nation’s largest oil export terminal, as part of plans to increase output from Africa’s biggest holder of crude reserves.
Exports should resume in a month once official orders are received to reopen the port, Galal Mohamed, head of operations at Waha Oil Co. , said in a phone interview Sunday from Libya’s eastern city of Ras Lanuf. Es Sider,
operated by Waha Oil, has been closed since December 2014 when armed groups attacked the port. The state National Oil Corp. has engineers and other workers at the port to evaluate damages and decide when to resume exports, NOC’s Ibrahim Al-Awami said by phone.
August 8, 2016
Petroleum Ministry moves to reassure Eni over Zohr.
The Petroleum Ministry has agreed to add a requirement to its agreement with Eni over the Zohr field requiring the state to open a revolving letter of credit facility worth the equivalent of Eni’s stake in production, Al Borsa reported. The move, Petroleum Minister Tarek El Molla says, is meant to reassure Eni that the Egyptian government will meet its financial obligations and reduce risk. El Molla hopes this will help Eni expedite the field’s development.
The presidents of Russia and Turkey are expected to repair relations and revive a gas pipeline project at a meeting in St. Petersburg on Tuesday. There is, however, one key issue on the table, DW's Andrey Gurkov writes.
The revival of the Turkish Stream pipeline project is expected to be the concrete outcome of the meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in St. Petersburg on Tuesday. The presidents will also recommit to the construction of Turkey's first nuclear power station, in Akkuyu, which is now severely behind schedule.
The main aim of this meeting, which was called at short notice, is to signal a thaw in relations between Russia and Turkey. In November 2015, there was a row over conflicting interests in Syria and the shooting down of a Russian bomber by Turkey's air force. Putin and Erdogan will now be anxious to show their nations, the world and especially the European Union that their quarrel is over. They intend to send a message to Brussels, Berlin, Paris and, of course, Washington: We can be friends without you - and even against you.
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| Yitzhak Tshuva |
Sun, Aug 7th, 2016
The merger will be part of the Delek Group's structural change
Delek Group, gas exploration subsidiaries, controlled by Yitzhak Tshuva, Avner Oil and Gas and Delek Drilling, this morning notified the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) that an independent committee has recommended a merger between the partnerships, with Avner merged into Delek Drilling.
The two subsidiaries control Tamar and Leviathan gas fields in offshore Israel, as well as the Aphrodite gas field in Cyprus.
The partnerships reported in April, that they were examining a possible structural change in the group, since they are considered “parallel” units, holding energy assets for Delek Group.
AUGUST 7TH, 2016
By Abboud Zahr
The results of the recently closed third offshore licensing round are very promising, particularly in view that global oil prices are low and oil companies are slashing their exploration budgets. Reputable international companies have submitted bids for all three blocks on offer (6, 8 and 10). Eight energy companies filed six bids for the three offshore blocks as follows:
Block 6: ENI/Total.
Block 8: ENI, Cairn/Delek.
Block 10: ENI/Total, ExxonMobil/Qatar Petroleum (QP), Statoil.
Among the six bidders, four feature in the top ten oil majors in the world in terms of reserves;
Sunday, August 7, 2016, 00:01
Medserv has successfully concluded the renewal of one of its major contracts with an international oil company operating offshore North Africa for another two years.
Medserv will provide fully integrated logistics and shore base services from its base in Malta. The project relates to the continuation of the Bahr Essalm offshore gas field development in the central Mediterranean. This major natural gas field project includes the installation of subsea structures, engineering, as well as extensive diving and implementation campaigns. A range of vessels will be involved, including pipe laying and diving support vessels.
