Cemal ASLAN - Dogu Akdeniz Petrol & Gaz ve Enerji Panaroma

Since the major discoveries of gas in 2010, Israel has gone out in all directions to find viable export routes for its gas ... but with limited results so far. So far only the two modest agreements to export gas to Jordan are active. In fact gas started to trickle to the Potash Company where 66 billion cubic feet (bcf) are contracted to be exported over 15 years. The other agreement with Jordan’s electricity company is expected to start in 2019, if the Leviathan field is developed, for the export of 530 bcf over 15 years. The opposition to this agreement and the possibility of restarting imports from Egypt may change this outlook. The option to export to Egypt by reversing the pipeline and by building sea lines to Egypt’s two LNG plants is off the table because the latter is no longer interested. Instead, it is concentrating on expediting its new discoveries at sea and on land where it is likely to be self-sufficient in 2019. Egypt also made an agreement with Cypr...

Exploration of gas reserves in the Levantine Basin is still underway,but it has ramped up following major discoveries in the waters of Cyprus, Egypt, and Israel over the past five years. Lebanon is on the cusp of commencing exploration. Cyprus The discovery of Aphrodite led to hopes that Cyprus might begin producing gas both for its domestic market as well as for other European markets, given that the relatively low level of gas consumption in Cyprus would leave remarkable reserves for export.However, there is consensus that Aphrodite is too small to justify the capital investment needed for its development. For export to begin, Cyprus would either have to transfer its gas through an onshore or offshore LNG terminal or through pipeline.With no infrastructure currently in place, this would require significant capital investment. Given that Cyprus is a new entrant into the world of gas, any prospective LNG terminal would be a greenfield infrastructure project, and the return on invest...

PIPELINES and PIPEDREAMS Large natural gas discoveries in the eastern Mediterranean have raised hopes that the region could serve EU energy needs, helping it to fulfil its goals of energy diversification, security, and resilience. SUMMARY • But there are commercial and political hurdles in the way. Cyprusʼs reserves are too small to be commercially viable and Israel needs a critical mass of buyers to begin full-scale production. Regional cooperation – either bilaterally or with Egypt – is the only way the two countries will be able to export. • Egypt is the only country in the region that could export gas to Europe independently because of the size of its reserves and its existing export infrastructure. But energy sector reforms will be needed to secure investor confidence in this option. • There are now two options for regional export: to build a pipeline that connects Israel and Cyprus to southern Europe, or to create a network of pipelines into Egypt, from which gas could be li...

On Monday 3 April, the energy ministers of Cyprus, Greece, Israel and Italy met in Tel Aviv, warmly watched by the EU Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy. They had gathered to sign a preliminary agreement to advance a gas pipeline project aimed at linking their four countries: the EastMed pipeline. The project is ambitious, enormous and – at least today – probably unnecessary. At first glance the EastMed is an impressive idea. The pipeline would transport 10 billion cubic metres per year (Bcm/y) of gas from eastern Mediterranean gas fields to Greece and Italy. About 1900km long, and reaching depths below 3km, it would be the world’s longest and deepest subsea pipeline. The estimated cost is €6.2 billion. But for those who follow European energy security, Monday’s ceremony brought a kind of déjà vu. It was difficult not to remember a similar ministerial ceremony that took place in Vienna in June 2006, proclaiming next steps for the Nabucco pipeline. The two projects have...

Petrol ve doğalgaz aramak için Akdeniz’e açılan Barbaros Hayrettin Paşa sismik gemisinin keşfedeceği her yeni kaynak, Türkiye’nin ve KKTC'nin elini güçlendirecek... Doğu Akdeniz Bölgesi yapısı itibarı ile birçok ülkenin kıyı şeridini içinde barındıran bir bölgedir. Kıyı devletlerinin çokluğu bölgenin ekonomik hareketliliğini artıran bir unsur olmasına rağmen, bölge ülkeleri arasında zaman zaman ortaya çıkan uyuşmazlıklara da neden olmaktadır. Son dönemde gündeme gelen yetki alanı uyuşmazlıkları da bunlardan bir tanesidir. Kıbrısın çevresinde bulunan zengin petrol ve doğalgaz yatakları, bölge ülkelerini bu çevrenin zenginliklerinden yararlanmak amacıyla kaynakları paylaşmaya itmiştir. Özellikle yakın zamanda başta Güney Kıbrıs Rum Yönetimi olmak üzere pek çok ülke Münhasır Ekonomik Bölge (MEB) anlaşmaları imzalamış ve bu kapsamda ülkeler arasında stratejik birliktelikler başlamıştır.Türkiye ise bu stratejik ortaklıkların dışında bırakılmıştır. Kıbrıs'ta Hidrokarbon k...