Turkey Sees No Need for Cyprus to Approve Israel Gas Pipeline
A Turkey-Israel gas pipeline deal could be built through Cyprus’ economic waters even without Cypriot consent, a Turkish official said, dismissing what some experts see as a key obstacle to an energy deal between the two Mediterranean countries.
Cyprus can’t block a gas pipeline from Israel to Turkey, and gas talks with Israel don’t hinge on attempts to reach a peace deal in Cyprus, the Turkish official said, requesting anonymity because the matter is sensitive. A pipeline bringing gas from Israel’s Leviathan field to Turkey would need to pass through Cyprus’s Exclusive Economic Zone and the Cypriots would be informed about the plans, but international maritime law allows the pipeline to be laid even without Cyprus’s consent, he said.
Israel and Turkey patched up ties recently after years of diplomatic estrangement and are eager to advance an energy deal that would help transform Israel into a gas exporter and bolster Turkey as a key gas hub in the region. One key obstacle has been Turkey’s conflict with Cyprus, which has been divided since 1974, with northern Cyprus controlled by a self-declared state supported by Turkey. The two sides of the island have held talks recently on a reunification effort.
Cyprus disputes Turkey’s stance, with government spokesman Nikos Christodoulides telling state broadcaster RIK earlier this month that “a pipeline cannot pass through Cyprus’s EEZ without the permission of Nicosia.” An Israeli energy ministry official said the country is conducting parallel talks with Cyprus and Turkey about different pipelines, and declined to comment on the issue of Cyprus’s economic waters.
Stumbling Block
The Turkish comments come as talks toward a gas deal with Israel accelerate. Officials from the two countries have exchanged visits recently to hash out details of a framework that Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz says would pave the way for Israeli gas to flow to Turkey in about three years.
The Turkish official said talks with Israel are likely to wrap up this summer, with the main stumbling block being the price of gas. The Leviathan producers want to sell to Turkey above domestic Israeli prices, which may be “too optimistic” given that Turkey has other suppliers including Russia, the Turkish official said. The Israeli official said it’s up to the companies, not the government, to negotiate the prices.
Israel and Turkey haven’t joined the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which says all countries are entitled to lay underwater cables and pipelines through another state’s economic zone, with the “delineation” of the pipeline subject to consent of the coastal state.
Cyprus has found its own, smaller gas field that hasn’t been developed, and energy companies are searching its waters for larger fields as well. Cyprus isn’t likely to stand in the way of the Israel-Turkey pipeline and will seek to resolve the issue amicably, with Cyprus probably seeking assurances that it can one day connect its own gas fields to the pipeline, said Amit Mor, CEO of Eco Energy, a consulting company located outside Tel Aviv.
“I sense that eventually, when all other issues are resolved, with price definitely being a key sticking point, the Cypriot EEZ issue will be agreed upon between Israel, Cyprus and Turkey,” Mor said.
Saipem unit lets marine contract for Tangguh LNG plant
PT Saipem Indonesia, Melbourne, let a marine construction contract to McConnell Dowell Corp. Ltd. for work on the BP PLC-operated Tangguh LNG plant extension in Indonesian New Guinea.
The contract includes construction of two finger piers and associated work at the bulk offloading facility along with design, supply, installation, construction, testing, and commissioning work on the LNG and condensate loading jetty No. 2 at the site.
The two-train Tangguh project first came on stream in 2009 and has delivered well in excess of 700 LNG cargos since that time.
The final investment decision for an additional third LNG train was made in July 2016. This will increase the capacity of the plant by 3.8 million tonnes/year of LNG bringing the total capacity to 11.4 million tpy.
As well as the new bulk offshore loading facility and the second LNG and condensate loading jetty, the overall development includes new pipelines, new wellhead platforms and redevelopment of the existing onshore Tangguh brownfield site with additional boil of gas recovery, flares and other support infrastructure.
McConnell Dowell’s contract work is to begin immediately with completion expected in early 2019.
The third LNG train is scheduled to be brought on stream in 2020.
Operator BP has 40.22% of Tungguh. MI berau has 16.3%, CNOOC Muturi 13.9%, Nippon Oil Exploration 12.23%, KG Berau Petroleum and KG Wiriagar Petroleum 10%, Indonesia Natural Gas Resources Muturi 7.35% and Talisman Wiriagar Overseas 3.06%
Read more...
Kuwait, Oman finalize partnership for Duqm refinery
Kuwait Petroleum Corp. subsidiary Kuwait Petroleum International Ltd. (KPI) has finalized an agreement with Duqm Refinery & Petrochemical Industries Co. LLC (DRPIC), Muscat, a joint venture of state-owned Oman Oil Co. (OOC) and the UAE’s International Petroleum Investment Co. (IPIC), to jointly develop DRPIC’s grassroots 230,000-b/d refinery and petrochemical complex to be built in the Duqm Special Economic Zone (SEZAD) in Duqm, Al Wusta Governate, Oman (OGJ Online, Nov. 14, 2016).
As part of the Apr. 10 agreement, KPI will invest an undisclosed amount in the proposed refining and petrochemical project that, once completed, will produce transportation fuels and petrochemicals to meet rising demand in Oman and abroad, the companies said.
The agreement follows DRPIC’s goal of attracting investors to help complete the proposed complex following IPIC’s conclusion in early 2016 that the new direction of project to include petrochemicals did not fit its investment strategy.
In 2015, DRPIC said it planned to award a total of two EPC contracts for the project by yearend 2016, including a larger package for all equipment and structures required for main crude oil processing units, as well as a second package to cover all supporting installations, utilities, tankage, and buildings (OGJ Online, Jan. 25, 2016).
According to OOC’s website, the project is still awaiting award of the EPC tender before construction begins.
The company previously awarded a contract to Galfar Engineering & Contracting SAOG, Muscat, to provide site preparation work for the project, for which leveling and laying of foundations for refinery construction has now been completed, OOC said.
Detailed timelines for construction and ultimate startup of the integrated refining complex, however, have yet to be revealed.
Primarily designed to produce and recover naphtha, jet fuel, diesel, and LPG, the refinery will include units for hydrocracking, hydrotreating, delayed coking, sulfur recovery, hydrogen generation, and Merox treating.
Read more...
BP Starts up Trinidad Onshore Compression Project
BP Trinidad and Tobago LLC (bpTT) has announced the start-up of the Trinidad onshore compression (TROC) project, one of seven major upstream projects BP expects to bring online in 2017.
Full start-up will take place over the next few months. When fully onstream, the onshore compression facility will have the potential to deliver approximately 200 MMcfgd. The facility is expected to improve production capacity by increasing production from low-pressure wells in bpTT’s existing acreage in the Columbus Basin using an additional inlet compressor at the Point Fortin Atlantic LNG plant.
Bernard Looney, chief executive of BP’s upstream business, said: “Delivered on-time and on-budget, this major infrastructure project is part of BP’s plan to bring 500,000 bopd of new production capacity online by the end of 2017 and paves the way for Juniper, our other major project start-up in Trinidad and Tobago this year.”
BP Trinidad and Tobago regional president Norman Christie commented: “BPTT thanks and congratulates the government, contractors, partners and other stakeholders that came together to safely bring the TROC project to mechanical completion. The TROC project is a clear example of bpTT, the government and many key players in the oil and gas industry cooperating to improve production capacity, which will benefit both the petrochemical plants and Atlantic. Though start-up will be phased, we anticipate an improvement in gas production in 2017 as a result of TROC and the planned start-up of Juniper later this year.”
The plant is 100% funded and owned by bpTT. Atlantic LNG Company of Trinidad and Tobago will serve as the operator. The project was sanctioned in July 2016 following agreements between Atlantic shareholders, the National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago and other directly impacted upstream operators.
Read more...
Gazprom builds 15 exploratory and development wells in Bangladesh in four years
A working meeting between Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, and Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, took place in Moscow today.
The parties expressed their appreciation for the Company’s efforts in Bangladesh. It was noted that Gazprom had built 15 exploratory and development wells at seven fields in the country since 2013.
The meeting participants discussed the prospects for cooperation in oil and gas prospecting, exploration and development. Attention was also paid to further implementation of the contract between Gazprom and the Petrobangla state-owned corporation for the construction of two prospecting and exploratory wells on Bhola Island in the south of Bangladesh.
Read more...