Page 11 - EurOil Week 26 2019

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Croatia collects bids in onshore tender
CROATIA
CROATIA’S latest onshore oil and gas licensing round has attracted bids from four companies, as the government looks to bolster investment in exploration.
According to the state hydrocarbon agency AZU, o ers were received for six of the seven blocks earmarked for development. ese seven sites span 14,272 square km of the country’s northern Pannonian Basin.
“The permitting issuing is a precondition for opening talks on signing a contract between the government and the selected bidder,” AZU head Marijan Krpan said in a statement on July 1, without specifying the companies involved. “It is expected that the whole process will be com- pleted by the beginning of next year.”
Croatia launched two tenders late last year – one for the acreage in the Pannonian Basin, and another for 12,134 square km of land in its southern Dinarides region. e deadline for bids in the Pannonian contest passed on June 28, with awards anticipated in October, while the second tender will remain open for o ers until Septem- ber 10.
Croatia wants to advance new projects to help reverse declining oil and gas production and curb reliance on imported supplies. It is also looking to open a new LNG import terminal to help diversify its gas supply, the bulk of which comes from Russia.
Croatia’s last tender took place in 2014, with blocks being awarded to local state-owned INA and Canada’s Vermilion Energy. Since then, Zagreb has passed a law to facilitate the transi- tion from exploration to production at discover- ies, hoping this will spur more investment.
Whereas the Pannonian Basin has been devel- oped before, the Dinarides area is mostly unex- plored, with only some basic seismic surveys having been shot there in the 1950s. As such, the government will give operators more time – up to seven years – to explore blocks in the region, with an exit option a er three or ve years.
e government had also attempted several years ago to o er up acreage in the Adriatic, but shelved these plans because protests over the impact of o shore drilling on the environment and Croatia’s tourism industry.™
Energean snaps up Edison’s oil and gas fields
ITALY
ISRAEL-FOCUSED gas producer Energean has struck a deal to buy the oil and gas operations of Italian energy group Edison for $750mn.
In a statement on July 4, Energean said it had signed a conditional sale and purchase for Edi- son E&P, which controls assets in Italy, Algeria, Croatia, the UK and Norwegian North Sea and Greece. e company produced 69,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) last year, and boasts 292mn barrels of oil equivalent (boe) in proven and probable (2P) reserves.
In addition to the $750mn purchase price, Energean will pay a further $100mn a er the start-up of Edison’s o shore Cassiopea gas pro- ject in Italy, anticipated in 2022.
Energean said the acquisition was in line with its goal of becoming the Mediterranean’s leading exploration and production company. e London-based operator’s activities centre on Israel, where it plans to launch production at the o shore Karish and Tanin gas elds at a cost of $1.6bn. Pending the deal’s closure, Energean’s total 2P reserves will reach 639mn boe, while its output will ramp up to 140,000boepd by 2021.
e move will also bolster Energean’s $1.6bn market valuation, less than a year and a half a er
it listed in rst London and then Tel Aviv. e company achieved core earnings of $52.4mn in 2018, up from $20.7mn in 2017.
According to Reuters sources, Energean faced o against UK-based Cairn Energy in the nal round of bidding for Edison’s oil and gas business. Edison, which is majority owned by France’s EDF and is Italy’s third biggest power producer a er Enel and Eni, is looking to divest from fossil fuels and focus more on clean energy and other areas. It reportedly hired financial groups Rothschild and Tudor, Picking Holt & Co to assist with the sale.
Edison’s withdrawal from oil and gas follows similar moves by several other leading Euro- pean energy companies, including EDF, France’s Engie and Germany’s RWE.™
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